Joy,

I'm sorry you understood by my statement that I was in favor of ONLY health
care professionals taking the test - in fact, in Puerto Rico I'm one of the
few people who says that having an IBCLC MAKES you a Health Care
Professional and you don't need any other degree to justify yourself.

What I hoped to clarify was the need for CONTACT with mothers and babies -
not just telephone counseling.  I was an LLLL for 11 years when I took the
test in '85 - and my degree was in Social Work, not nursing (that came
later due to necessity for getting a job...).  But even though I was an
LLLL, I had seen lots of moms and babies and seen lots of different
situations - especially the normal.  I did very badly in the medications
part of the test - mostly because I purposely did not memorize anything -
thereby forcing me to read the information to the mom who asked the
question, rather than saying, off the top of my head, "sure, you can
breastfeed with that" - and opening myself up to lawsuits...

Sorry that my statement offended you, it was certainly not meant to!



Jeanette Panchula, BSW, RN, IBCLC, LLLL
mailto:[log in to unmask]
Project Director - Proyecto Lacta - Puerto Rico
http://netdial.caribe.net/~prlacta/
Lactancia Materna '98 - La Mejor Inversion