I have been a member of the Lactnet list for a few months now. Just reading 
posts and lurking behind the scenes. I am completing the UC San Diego 
Lactation Educator Course with Gini Baker and she mentioned this list as a 
good source of information for people such as myself.  I have been a 
passionate supporter of breastfeeding for the past ten years since I was 
inspired by my dear cousin who breastfed all of her 3 children for 3-4 years 
each.  She is inspiration to me in so many ways, but this one has really stuck. 
I have thought for years that I would like to become a Lactation Consultant 
but didn't know how to go about it. I know the pathways and the different 
routes but none worked out for me. I always "knew" I would have natural 
childbirth and breastfeed my children and then I had my daughter Jadalyn 
three and a half years ago. She was born with a chromosome abnormality, 
severe health problems and disabilities and unable to eat by mouth. She spent 
two months in the NICU and before they decided she could not safely eat by 
mouth, they "allowed" me to nurse her one time.  She wasn't too happy about 
it but she did latch and it was a blessed moment. I pumped for seven months 
before going back to work and watching my supply dwindle to nothing. Need 
less to say my life has been quite busy since my daughter was born and I was 
thrown into the "medical" world and eventually embraced it as to not become 
thoroughly depressed. Now three and a half years later I am swinging towards 
the mid line between "natural" and "medical" and seeing the need and place for 
both. I went through CNA training and thought I would proceed to RN and 
become a Lactation Consultant that way (as most of the jobs I see on the 
web have both as requirements) but found that although I am an 
excellent "nurse" and mother for my daughter being a nurse in the real world is 
not for me. I've thought quite a few times about becoming a La Leche Leader 
to get the experience that way but each time I have inquired have been 
discouraged or turned away due to the time frame that I pumped (less than a 
year).  One of the qualifications of the program I am currently completing is to 
shadow a Lactation Consultant for 8 hours in a clinical setting.  I can not tell 
you how hard this was to find.  I contacted all the hospitals in my County and 
not one would allow me, due to HIPPA/privacy to shadow as I am not an 
employee at their hospitals.  I work full time, take care of my daughter and am 
currently going to school to get my Bachelors Degree in Health Education and 
eventually MS in Public Health (Maternal and Child Health). But I wonder, how 
will I get the experience counseling mothers when it was so hard to even get 
8 hours of shadowing accomplished.  I am not one to go outside of my realm 
of knowledge and have been searching for a "mentor" for years. Hearing the 
debate on Lactnet for the past week or so has been very disappointing and 
disheartening to me.  It seems that all paths lead to .... in this field. I have 
reached out time and time again to people I have met along the way and have 
not found the support and mentoring that I need to make a difference in the 
lives of mothers and babies that I desire.  I promise that if I make it to my 
goals I will mentor those up and coming in the field as I have always wanted 
for myself. I hope that everyone can find a way to work together for the 
common good of mothers and babies health.  ~Liz Sidener

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
Mail all commands to [log in to unmask]
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask])
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask])
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]