Has anyone read *Outliers* by Malcom Gladwell, or perhaps one of his other
bestsellers *The Tipping Point* or *Blink*?   In *Outliers*, he discusses
how it takes an individual 10,000 hours of practice to become expert in a
field.  That's TEN THOUSAND hours of working hands-on in a particular
discipline before one can consider themselves to have gained expertise.  It
matters not what the discipline is - music, arts, sport, medicine - simply
that in any given field, once an individual has 'put in' 10,000 hours of
practice, they have reached a point in which they know more and can do more
than others in their field, never mind the average person.
 
As IBCLC's we are seen as the experts.  Though we are told, and certainly
understand from our own hands-on experiences in our early years of practice,
that the IBCLC designation is an 'entry level certification'; but, the fact
is that we do not accept that for ourselves.  Our clientele - the mothers
and babies - do not see us as beginners in the fields of breastfeeding and
lactation; our colleagues - the doulas, midwives, doctors,etc, who refer to
us - do not see us as apprentices; and we ourselves - by the respect we
demand from the medical community and our clientele - do not act as if we
are entry level lactation professionals.
 
In my first years as an IBCLC I attended a workshop by the highly respected
Barbara Wilson-Clay, in which she told the wanna-bees, newbies, and veterans
that were her audience that for the first five years, most IBCLC's walk into
every breastfeeding consultation like a deer caught in the headlights -
shaking in our boots, unsure of of ourselves, not confident in our
abilities.  She shared some of her own stories from her early days as an
IBCLC and, later, us participants gathered in little circles talking about
our own deer-in-the-headlights moments.  Barbara's comment, our subsequent
conversation, and my own feelings of inadequacy have stuck with me all these
years; I am reminded of them everytime I come face-to-face with my own
inadequacies, with the gaps in my knowledge and expertise.
 
Facing those gaps, acknowledging the areas in which I do not have adequate
education, only serves to make me a BETTER lactation consultant.  It does
not point out my failings, unless I choose to see it that way, but rather it
gives me the opportunity to FILL a gap, to increase my knowledge, to learn
more, do more, to work toward my 10,000 hours.
 
Centralized regulation is important in our field; internationally
centralizing regulations is very complex.  Though the new regulations may
make it difficult for individuals from 'Non-Westernized' countries to obtain
certification as an IBCLC, that is not the point.  The point is the
centralization - having the SAME criteria for all IBCLC's - all over the
world.  Such can only make us stronger and prove the world over that we are,
indeed, the experts.  
 
I often like to say my clients and workshop participants that 'breastfeeding
is an art, but lactation is a science'.  I fear that many of us who are
passionate about the art of breastfeeding, fail to see the value in the
*science* of lactation.  Though the two are closely intertwined, they are
not the same.  As a biological science, lactation is part of female and
infant anatomy and physiology, stemming from and affecting the overall
health and wellbeing for mother and baby alike.  Therefore knowledge of a
certain degree of medical & biological science is important in order for us
to be experts not only in breastfeeding but also in lactation, contributing
to our 10,000 hours.
 
I believe that the new guidelines set out by the IBCLE are excellent!
Imagine the level of care provided to each dyad once all new IBCLC emerge
having already attained their 10,000 hours!
 
Respectfully,


Karyn-grace Clarke, IBCLC, RLC
Registered Lactation Consultant
HAPPY TRIBE CONSULTING
 <http://www.happytribe.ca/> www.happytribe.ca 
Nanaimo, BC, 250-739-3146

 

 

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