>> My understanding of the IBCLE requirements to sit the exam leads me to believe that a person could have 2500 hours or 4000 hours of telephone counselling, and have taken 30 hours of continuing education and sit the exam, without ever having worked clinically. So one could be certified without having seen lots of latches..... Warmly, Nikki Lee RN, MSN, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CIMI, CSTP<< Hi Nikki, As an LLLL who will be sitting for the exam soon, I've given lots of thought to this issue. In 9 1/2 years in LLL, my hands-on knowledge (as opposed to phone-helping or pictures in books) of latch has come primarily from 1) my personal nursing experiences, and 2) working with nursing mothers at our monthly meetings. I've also done home visits, but these are an optional activity for leaders. So I see a lot more older babies and 'normal' situations, as opposed to a hospital LC who sees more newborns and ill babies. I personally don't know of a situation where one could have 2500 or 4000 hours without seeing plenty of moms and babies face-to-face. In LLL, at least, leading meetings is a basic responsibility and thus a significant percentage of our counseling is in person and not just on the phone. And I've always assumed that the LC's who answer questions on the local Breastfeeding Center help lines also see plenty of patients in person. I think we all have strengths and weaknesses in our breastfeeding expertise. I help a mother when I have the knowledge and expertise to do so, and hopefully know enough to refer her to the appropriate person when her problem is outside my scope of knowledge. I definitely feel that my theoretical knowledge (I'm a voracious reader, and have had a lot of continuing education) is up to snuff, and I'm fairly confident that I can pass the exam. But I do wish there were opportunities for me to gain more experience with premies and unusual bf situations, rather than take yet another CE course that covers lots of basics that I already know well. Are they out there, and I'm just unaware? I hope to hear some more opinions on this - Marcia McCoy in Minnesota *********************************************** 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