Dear Listmates,
 
I too was shocked, I would even say incensed, when I just happened to come  
across the document that Susan Burger mentions on the Healthy Children's  
Center for Breastfeeding website. I came across this document while looking  
for info on the DVD, "The Magical Hour." I am so glad I had read the ILCA  
e-Globe and saw that this DVD was put out by Healthy Children.
 
The "Position Paper on the Comparative Roles of the IBCLC and the CLC" is  
my opinion a slap in the face to every IBCLC who has had to get many hours 
of 1  to 1 clinical consultation to be even able to sit for the exam.
 
This quote is from the first paragraph on the website 
(_http://www.healthychildren.cc/index.cfm?show=clc_ 
(http://www.healthychildren.cc/index.cfm?show=clc) )  which discusses CLC training:
 
"The Certified Lactation Counselor®, (CLC) certification is the premier  
National Certification in Lactation Management for the United States. CLC  
certification holders have demonstrated competence in the lactation skills,  
knowledge and attitudes that are essential to helping women in the United  
States. The course and competencies have been evaluated by the ANCC who has  
approved as Nursing Skills Competencies."  
Would the average CLC know anything about posterior tongue tie or  how to 
adequately counsel a woman with low milk supply? Or the  pregnant woman who 
has had breast surgery and wants to know how to maximize her  chances to 
nurse her infant? A CLC I spoke with recently was not  even aware that a 
"professional grade pump" was not a hospital grade pump. 
For many years I have thought that if an organization stands  to profit 
financially by certifying attendees of their five day course and then  awarding 
them 3/5 of the initials of an IBCLC when they pass a test, there is a  
real ethical concern here. As for competency, shouldn't this be assessed in 
real  lactation situations, not in a didactic or a textbook learning  
environment? 
 
I also believe that this organization fought against legislative  efforts 
to make the IBCLC the stand alone credential for registration as a  lactation 
consultant in Massachusetts and I would love to be corrected on this  point 
if I am wrong.
 
There are many good CLCs and there are poor IBCLCs. But I believe that an  
IBCLC should be the gold standard for the lactation consultant profession. 
The  CLC can be a pathway to the IBCLC, but it is not equivalent or 
definitely not  superior.
 
Mary-Jane Sackett, RN, IBCLC, RLC
Pittsfield, MA

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