My Path To IBCLC

I get asked almost daily if I am an IBCLC…and the answer is “Not Yet”. In the confusing alphabet soup of lactation support, I am currently a highly educated CLC (Certified Lactation Counselor). I have taken over 100 hours of lactation specific education because constantly learning is important to me…because it helps me help you! IBCLE (the exam board for IBCLCs) requires 95 hours of lactation specific education (check!), 14 health science classes (all but stats, check! Thanks undergrad and a short stint in nursing school…) and *gasp* 1,000 clinical hours working with breastfeeding dyads AND my private practice doesn’t count (except for the time I work under midwives - so THANK YOU to them for the supervision!). So you can see pretty quickly why there is a lack of private practice, non-hospital based IBCLCs not only in our area, but everywhere. To say that it is a labor of love to run my practice and ensure that I am efficiently gathering my hours (halfway there currently!), AND having three young kids is quite an understatement.

The most important thing to me is GREAT care for my clients. So what does that mean? It means I refer up and out whenever I need to. It means I promise to never “learn” to the detriment to a client and their baby. I take my job and my IBCLC aspirations very seriously and I am always transparent about my education, my credentials and where I am along this path. Supporting our community as I am has been a pipe dream of mine for well…ever. And I think you can see that my passion shines through just by asking our local moms groups, the google and many of our midwives, OBs, L&D nurses, family chiropractors, etc. in this area about me.

I am not YET an IBCLC, but watch me take on this difficult system, and raise my babies, and run a booming practice loving and caring for new families and become one.