Dear Melisa,

Actually, you made my point, exactly.  People who seek out a CNM do so because they know that she has a certain body of knowledge to begin with.  Does that mean that she will do a better job delivering their baby than a lay midwife? Maybe yes, maybe no, but at least they know she graduated from a program with an identifiable curriculum.  With the lay midwife, you just don't know what you are getting unless you get some reliable references first.  This is not a slam on apprentice midwifery.  If there is never any recognized course of study for the IBCLC, then it will be no different than any of the other LC certifications that are now being offered by various groups of educators and thus, I don't think that the letters will mean anything special after a while.  I hear a lot of older IBCLC's debating whether to take the exam for the third or fourth or whatever time - they don't see the real value in it anymore, especially those that are also RNs.  Just as there is a CNM, I think that there should be an IBCLC - and again, I don't think that every lactation person should necessarily aspire to become an IBCLC under those circumstances.  I think that credentials do have real meaning in the proper context.  That doesn't mean that everyone helping women to breastfeed can't work together towards that goal, regardless of whatever credentials they have or don't have.

Sharon K.3

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