I received a letter and questionnaire in the mail from the DCC people wanting
me to sign up for their Moms at Work Program. While the program sounds good, I
e-mailed back some reservations on how they were recruiting lactation
consultants. The term lactation consultant is a generic one. Anyone can call
themselves a lactation consultant. Someone who takes a five day wonder course
could fill out this questionnarie and have mothers referred to her without
having any demonstrated competencies in breastfeeding management. I asked if
they had any screening mechanisms in place. Did they require a certain number
of years experience, did they require references, and most importantly did
they require the IBCLC certification. I asked how they intended to protect the
public.

They did not ask about liability insurance or if they would provide it. The
accompanying letter said they trained lactation consultants which made me
nervous. For those of you who have seen this mailing what do we know about
this and the potential benefits or disadvantages?

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, Massachusetts