Netters,
As an LLLL for 20 years, a graduate from Michigan State's School of Social Work,
and IBCLC for 11 years and an RN for 7, all I can say is that the work I do with
the moms now benefits from all the diverse experiences and education I've had -
and I'm now working towards getting into the School of Public Health for the
MPH.

To say that you "don't need" an RN to be an IBCLC is very true - I did that.
You  "don't need" a degree in Child Psychology or Sociology or Physiology or
Microbiology or any other "ology" in order to be a great LC.  But - I did feel
the need to go for the RN after getting my IBCLC.  Why?
Breastfeeding Advocacy is an uphill battle.  I wanted to reduce the strain on
me.  Is this the right answer for others?  Not necessarily.  I have found that
it's easier to go to a new town and get a job, easier to be taken seriously,
easier to speak in public because my introduction: "she's an RN" gives me
credibility.

Did my RN make me a better IBCLC - yes.  Not for the reasons the "lay public"
(meaning non-lactation oriented people) believe.  It made me a better IBCLC
because I understand the education the RN's have received and therefore can
address them as:  "we were taught....  but the truth is..." Rather than  "you
were taught... but ..."   The RN makes it easier to "connect" with the people I
am trying to educate and whose behaviors I'm trying to change.  I can understand
their problems having worked on the floor and (even though I was an IBCLC) not
found time to help a mother breastfeed.

If I were working only with moms, this would not be such an issue.  By word of
mouth, they let each other know who is good and who isn't.  But even then, if a
mom tells another mom "Panchula told me this" and the mom asks what are my
credentials, the IBCLC is not well-known yet - the RN is.  It makes it easier
for her to face her mother-in-law (as a mom just told me at the last LLL meeting
I led).

The MD's I'm working with here in PR think the IBCLC MUST be an RN - and no
matter how much I've tried to change that opinion, I have not been successful.

My feeling is that each person must decide which fight they want to fight - and
go for it!  If you want to change the need for RN with the IBCLC, be aware that
you are going to be fighting an uphill battle much steeper than those of us who
have "given in." [Actually, my desire for an RN was much older than my desire to
be an LC - I had wanted it since I was an 8th grader and didn't get it when I
went to MSU due to the costs involved.]   You will need to prove yourself with
each and every person you meet, rather then just with the people who lack
breastfeeding knowledge.  You first have to prove your capabilities - THEN
they'll listen to you and be willing to learn from you.  With an RN, they
"assume" you know - at least something - and are willing to listen until you
tell them something out of the ordinary - then you have to prove you're capable.
It is a different tack, and one that works for me.

I think that even more important than what others in the lay community think, it
is the respect we accord each other -  whatever our backgrounds - that will
eventually raise the IBCLC to the level of respect it deserves.  If we speak of
each other as: "well, she isn't a nurse, but she knows her stuff." others will
think that having the RN is important.  If we say "she's a good IBCLC" then
others will understand that IBCLC is the important part of the qualification
that those of us in the profession respect.

Jeanette Panchula, BSW, LLLL, IBCLC, RN
Puerto Rico