Dear all,

There is something I have wanted to ask you for some time. I am a family physician
very interested in the field of lactation (as you have probably noticed by now...), and
have taken the IBCLC exam. I am getting calls from all over the country on
breastfeeding matters, even though I don't have a private practice, and have been
doing this so far on a voluntary basis. I am thinking of dedicating more time to treating
breastfeeding problems, and maybe opening some kind of lactation clinic. Most of my
knowledge stems from written material - books, articles, lactnet etc,  my experience
helping mothers, and of course nursing my own children for a total of 9 years. I feel I
need more practical knowledge (can you imagine I have never even seen a baby nurse
with a feeding tube device - but I can explain what this is good for, and how to do this
theoretically). I also know that sometimes babies need suck training - but have never
seen this done, and I also feel I don't have enough experience in helping babies and
moms who have problems latching on, etc.

I am thinking of getting more practical training in assessing and treating breastfeeding
problems, and would like your advice. I thought of visiting a big, active lactation clinic
for some kind of internship. Here in Israel there are only very few lactation consultants,
and this is a very new field. I am in touch with the local LCs, and will try to spend more
time with them, but I also wanted to find a place abroad where I could do this. There
are almost no doctors in Israel with a wide knowledge in lactation management, and I
would like to become the specialist in this field to whom the problem cases could be
referred to. Of course I will be working with LCs, but I feel I also have to know more.

Do any of you have an idea where I could do this? I would like to spend around two
weeks at a good lactation clinic, or center (that's the best I can do at this time,
considering my family and work). Are there any structured programs for this? Or
maybe a private arrangement I can make?

Thank you for reading this long post. I wanted to explain myself as good as possible.

Mira Leibovich, MD, IBCLC

[log in to unmask]

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html