Hi Chris,
>I do agree with all that you said, but I must restate that to say that one
can only be a good LC if they are a memeber of ILCA and read the JHL is
ludicrous.  This is basically what Pat was saying.  To say that everyone who
is a member of ILCA and reads JHL is a good/great LC is as silly as saying
that every person who is a Dr. must be a good one because they are a member
of the AMA and reads medical journals.  We all have run into Drs who aren't
very good and have caused problems for people in one way or another (one
almost killed my mother and another almost killed my son), and goodness
knows I know of a few LC who are members of ILCA who ought to be barred from
ever going near a mom and baby. Simply because of this, we can't use a
person being a member of a certain organization as a basis for whether or
not that person is a qualified professional.  They may be a member, but may
be far from qualified.
>
>If ILCA wants to make sure that all its members are fully qualified LCs,
then it must set up a set of requirements that are very stringent.  But, if
it does that its membership will drop drastically as it boots out people who
do not yet meet its standards for qualification.  Where would this leave
people like myself, a CLE and soon to be LLLL applicant?  Out in the cold.
Where is the organization for CLEs so that we can be listed as "Qualified
Lactation Educators"?  There is none that I know of.
>
>People, parents, organizations must do their own research on a person
calling themselves and LC if they want to make sure that they are getting
someone who knows what they are doing.  It is their responsibility to be
well informed.  I do not feel it is appropriate for someone to call
themselves an LC if the are not IBCLC.  I am a CLE, and make sure that
people who talk to me know that fact.  There are others who do not.  Until
the world recognizes that there is the IBCLC and that is what they should
look for as a minimum requirement when looking for an LC then we are in a
pickle.  But, again, being an IBCLC and a member of ILCA, does not mean
(today, at any rate) that you are qualified to work with moms and babies.
>
>I agree that we need standards.  We need to have a set of guidelines and
protocols for education.  We need to have the colleges all over the world
teaching BF and offering Bachelors, masters and PhD degrees in Maternal and
child health/Lactation with the IBCLC as the entry level exam they must
pass.  The exam itself should, imo, have different levels (if it doesn't
already) for those who have never taken it, and those who have.
>
>The problem with this field right now is that there is no continuity of
education. Tho I knwo that it is better now than it was years ago.  Most of
the big conferences are in the states, and those outside the states must pay
dearly to come here, or somehow manage to get someone to go there, and
getting books is a joke for some.  They learn as they go, using their heads
and thinking things out for themselves, figuring out what works and what
doesn't.  If they are lucky, they can get onto Lactnet and learn from others
who have access to formal training.  Too much of the world is without the
resources that we have in the states, and some of us in the states are
without the resources we want in order to educate ourselves further.
>
>I want professional standards.  We need professional standards.  But that
doesn't mean that an LC is not following professional standards if she is
not a member of ILCA.  I can follow the standards that ILCA has formed
without being a member, and if I can, then so can others.  Peer reviews are
great, but the field is so limited in peers in some areas that that would be
a difficult thing to do.  Is there some group out there who is willing to go
around the world to do peer reviews?  I doubt it.
>
>I believe that most of us have a pretty fair idea of what is and is not
ethical in the area of supplies, pumps, etc.  We will, in time, come to a
point where there is worldwide agreement on these issues.  I believe that we
are a profession and that we are acting like one; a new one.  We are still
in our infancy, growing and expanding, learning and changing.  We need to be
careful of what we say and how we say it.  Saying things like "to be a good
LC one MUST be a member of ILCA and MUST read JHL" is a good way to cause
animosity, hurt feelings and anger.  We need to be able to accept each other
for what we can offer to the field and to each other, and not make judgement
calls about what we don't/can't have access to.  It would be like someone
saying that you might as well forget about BF a premie because you have no
electric pump.  Many areas around the world get along just fine without
electric pumps...they use their hands.  What they lack in technology they
make up for in ingenuity and common sense.
>
>We all can and need to subscribe to a standard of practice for this field
of BF...but we can't all subscribe to ILCA and JHL.  That is my point.
>
>Jay
>
Jay Simpson, CLE
Sacramento, CA
"No Miracles performed here, just a lot of love and hard work."
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