Besides licensure, education pathways and mentoring...I also think we
need a unified public awareness campaign. What does the public know
of LC vs IBCLC?  Most people lump all LCs into one group -- IBCLC along
with the two-day-wonders (complete with official lapel pins advertising
their "expert" status!) from ICEA. Can ILCA be expected to push this
forward? Perhaps affiliates can be given guidelines to use in doing local
public awareness projects. It doesn't need to be expensive -- little
handouts available for patients and providers could be very simple. We
need to let everyone know what to look for -- and look out for -- when
hiring a lactation consultant. It is hard for the the buyer to beware when
there are so few clues.

The recent proliferation of ersatz LCs is only going to get worse.

Margery Wilson, IBCLC
sitting here humming "look for the union label..."