Can anyone here help me understand the myriad of 'designations' in this
field?
 
Up until a year or so ago, I was very naive and really thought, in North
America anyway, that there were only three legit designations for helping
with breastfeeding situations and that they were in this order:  Peer
Counsellor (La Leche League-based), LLL Leader, IBCLC.
 
Nowadays, we don't hear much about Peer Counsellors and as I live in Canada
where we never had that designation, I haven't thought much about it.  So,
that would have left LLL Leaders (or other mother-to-mother support orgs. in
other countries) and then IBCLC's.
 
But, it appears that with the dawning of breastfeeding courses popping up at
the college level and online, this field has become a free-for-all.
 
So far, especially during my time here on Lactnet, I have seen the following
"letters" and designations:
 
BC - breastfeeding counsellor
 
BE - breastfeeding educator
LE - lactation educator
 
CBC - certified breastfeeding counsellor (??? not sure if this is what CBC
stands for)
 
CBE - certified breastfeeding educator
CLE - certified lactation educator
 
LC - Lactation Consultant (this has been used both to indicate IBCLC's and
NON-IBCLC's)
RLC - Registered Lactation Consultant
 
LLLL - La Leche League Leader
 
IBCLC - (I hope this one is self-explanatory!)
 
Others?
 
Thing is, I have NO IDEA what level of *knowledge* or *education* that ANY
of these designations have (save LLL and IBCLC), nor do I know what degree
of EXPERIENCE is needed for one to use one of these.  Do you?
 
Am I the only person confused by all this?  Looking at it this way, is it
any wonder that many hcp's still do not want to recognize lactation
professionals as part of the health care team?  And, is it any wonder why
the general public and others may not know the difference between a BC and
an IBCLC?
 
Is there any other professional field - an internationally recognized
professional field - that has such an array of designations?  I don't know
if others feel the same way, but this certainly gives me the feeling that
lactation professionals are a dime a dozen and that it doesn't take much to
attain some of those 'letters'.
 
I know that there has been much discussion about the proposed 'second
designation' (I myself have been supportive and unsupportive by turns), but
is it any wonder that this has been proposed?  With the myriad of
designations, certifications, letters, and whatnot, isn't ONE designation
*necessary* in order to uphold a standard of professionalism and KNOWLEDGE
in this field?
 
Blessings!
 
Karyn-grace Clarke, IBCLC, LLLL

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

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET email list is powered by LISTSERV (R).
There is only one LISTSERV. To learn more, visit:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html