I would like to introduce myself, my name is Grace O'Connor, and I am in the
beginning stages of (hopefully) becoming an IBCLC. I am a newbie to the
entire concept of breastfeeding, having not even given it a thought until my
son was born 15 months ago, but have since developed a strong passion for
it. My experience is only my own with my son (who I continue to nurse) and I
am just now starting to do some peer counseling at our local hospital and am
getting involved with LLL. I do not come from a medical field background.
When I first saw that there was a profession devoted entirely to supporting
and promoting breastfeeding I was thrilled at the thought that I would
actually be able to enter a field in which I truly support and believe in.
This recent thread has really opened my eyes to what is truly going on in
the profession but has also made me concerned about what I should do to
achieve my goal. I guess my real questions lies in how young people like
myself, new to the world of breastfeeding and passionate about it, should go
about becoming an IBCLC.
I have done research and have found 'courses' to take to learn about the
different aspects of breastfeeding. And I feel that these types of courses
will be a true benefit to me. But, of course, 'book smarts' alone can not
replace the essential hands on experience that is necessary to really know
what you are doing. But where does this 'hands on' experiences come from? I
understand that many people go into the LC field after being a nurse or by
volunteering through groups such as the LLL, but is this the only way? I
would love to know if any established IBCLC work with interested people like
myself in a mentor capacity, helping the 'student' in an apprenticeship type
situation. Is this something that is done?
I have enjoyed reading the different view on where the profession is
heading, and what path it should be taking. I have to agree that in an
'ideal' world an IBCLC would not be needed. That women would automatically
breastfeed and would have all the help they need from their family and
friends. But living in the world and being fairly new to motherhood, I know
first hand that that simply is not the case. In society today, most women do
not live near their families and do not have extended support. In my
personal experience my mother lived 12 hours away and did not breastfeed. In
my pervious experience working as a nanny, only one of the 10 children that
I ever watched was fed breast milk and that was via a bottle, so I had no
previous exposure to it. Before my son was born I had not seen a single
women breastfeeding. So in my personal experience the IBCLC I worked with
was not only need, but essential to my continued effort to breastfeed.
Although I was aware of mother support groups, as a new mother, not sure if
I was going to breastfeed or not, I had heard horror stories (as many women
I talk to have) about the 'militant breastfeeding mothers' that belonged to
those groups, and it was not something I wanted to deal with in my
heightened post-partum state of being. Of course, now I know that is not
necessarily true, but it is unfortunately the stereotype that is associated
with many groups. So I guess what I am saying is until breastfeeding is
considered the 'norm' and society accepts it as the premier way of feeding a
baby, IBCLC's are going to be needed.
Grace O'Connor, Rochester Hills MI, mom to Ethan, IBCLC wannabe, peer
counselor
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