<Oooo Jay, I touched a nerve there didn't I? Sorry, but if we want to be

accepted as allied health professionals we have to prepare and keep up
in
the same ways that they do.  We can't have it both ways.>
I would question that all breastfeeding counselors, even women who pass
the IBLCE, have a desire to be "allied health professionals."
<if you choose not to take the exam or charge for services fine but
respect
that there are those of us trying very hard to survive in the
professional
world and all the confusion about what an LC really is within our own
field
doesn't help one bit.>
What about women who have taken the IBLCE and remain volunteers?  Or lay
midwives who take the IBLCE to better assist their midwifery clients?
How do these women fall into your ranking?
As I was becoming a LLLL, I was bothered by the emphasis placed on
distinctions between  members, leader applicants, and leaders.  It makes
me sad to see this same tendency within the lactation consultant
community--are you a "lactation consultant" or just a lay breastfeeding
counselor?  I wonder if this emphasis on hierarchy is mirroring the
mainstream medical community?  Is this really something we want to
emulate?  We spent over 100 years turning childbirth into a medical
event, because of those few women who required medical intervention--and
are just beginning to turn this around.  I wonder if acceptance/prestige
within the medical community should  be a major goal of lactation
professionals?  Will this lead to further medicalization of infant
feeding?.
I have considered taking the IBLCE, but I have no desire to become an
allied health professional.  I just want to be an expert at
breastfeeding.
This is my first post to Lactnet, after lurking for a couple of months.
I have tried to phrase all this as humbly as I can, so please treat
lightly in your responses.
Millie Adelsheim
http://www.peapods.com