What is involved in becoming a LC?

[Jennisee]

I have really surprised myself w/ how passionate I've become about BFing. I keep thinking to myself how neat it would be to be a lactation consultant, how amazing it would be to make a difference. Does anyone know what this entails?

TIA!

[Lil'M]

I'm also looking into it for myself. Here is some good info to get started:

http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/LC.html

[Jennisee]

Thank you!

[orangebird]

Anyone can call themselves a LC (Lactation Councelor) or a LE (Lactation Educator) which for all intents and purposes are the same thing. To be a LC or LE you just basically need people to believe you are knowlegable. Then there are CLE and CLC's which means "certified". There is no national standard for certification but there are groups out there that offer certification. And then there is IBCLC that is a standardized international certification and they call themselves "consultants", you aren't allowed to use the word consultant anymore unless you are IBCLE certified. I am an RN and a CLE and will probably take the IBCLE next year. I keep putting it off because the IBCLE's I work with tell me it is pointless and just so the organization can charge outrageous amounts of money. It is $400 something to certify and then you have to pay a couple hundred bucks every few years to keep your certification. Other people insist that it is better to have it because it is the only standardized certification and I have heard some people go so far as to say not to trust anyone except IBCLC's. I have been elegible to be IBCLC for years and won't all of a sudden be so much better once I sit for the test and get my piece of paper, but either way, to each their own. It won't change anything I do in my practice either in the hospital or privately but I still want to take it for me.