How to become A Lactation Consultant

Breastfeeding is a subject fraught with emotion; it can be even more stressful and painful than pregnancy and giving birth. Lactation Consultants are the angels in disguise who help newborn babies, and their parents work around any feeding challenges they face and improve a parent’s chances of breastfeeding for as long as is possible.

• Lactation Specialist

What do Lactation Consultants do?

A Lactation Consultant would typically need to:

• Offer clinical support, advice and guidance to people who face common nursing problems after choosing to breastfeed

• Provide breastfeeding education and help to first-time parents, surrogate mothers, or parents who have already breastfed several children

• Visit the client within the first few days of giving birth to assess the needs of the client

• Review the mother’s health history, pregnancy, delivery and other essential information about their baby’s health

• Teach first-time parents how to correctly breastfeed their babies, offering tips during the first feedings

• Explain how to recognise the baby’s hunger cues and establish a proper feeding schedule

• Show the mother how to make sure the baby is latched properly and find the best breastfeeding position for the baby and the mother

• Help the parents ascertain whether their baby is getting adequate breastmilk and gaining sufficient weight by counting poopy and wet diapers or using a scale to weight the baby before and after feedings

• Prescribe drugs and herbal remedies to increase or maintain the mother’s milk supply; offer treatment for sore or cracked nipples and breast engorgement

• Coach mothers on maintaining breast milk supplies so they can make an easier transition back to work; demonstrate how to use a breast pump to express milk

• Answer phone calls from breastfeeding clients, make home visits, and work with the physician during postpartum visits to the clinic or while making hospital rounds, if employed in a physician’s office

• Furnish expectant parents with prenatal education and training; address specific concerns related to breast feeding and child care

• Chart each contact with a client and provide complete online records and reports to referring physicians and other healthcare providers

• Use narrative/progress notes, problem-oriented charting, flow sheets, standard clinical care plans and electronic health records to monitor a client’s progress

• Develop, review and implement comprehensive policies and procedures that give parents the latest information and facilitate proper at-home care after discharge

Lactation Consultants may work out of an office in a health care environment, a community or lactation centre or at a client’s home. Travel may be required if you are self-employed or work for more than one employer.

The nature of the work is so unpredictable and in need of prompt response that a Lactation Consultant may well spend around eight hours daily around newborn babies and their families. 

Whether they work day/night shifts or over weekends and holidays depends on their employers. Self-employed professionals may have more flexibility regarding the number of clients they accept at a time and so ease up their work schedule. 

Finding a new job might seem challenging. Lactation Consultants can boost their job search by asking their network for referrals, contacting employers directly, using job search platforms, going to job fairs, leveraging social media, and inquiring at staffing agencies. Lactation Consultants may have a private practice or manage their own business.

Lactation Consultants are generally employed by:

• Hospitals

• Birthing Centres

• Community Groups

• Women’s Organisations

• Pediatric Clinics

• Lactation Speciality Clinics

• Lactation Centres

• Corporate Lactation Programs

Professional associations and organisations, such as The International Lactation Consultant Association, are crucial for Lactation Consultants interested in pursuing professional development or connecting with like-minded professionals in their industry or occupation. Membership in one or more adds value to your resume while bolstering your credentials and qualifications.

• Closet counselling’ where the caseload is invisible to the employer and may result in unintended undervaluation of time spent at work

• Lack of timely provision of services when roles as an RN and Lactation Consultant are not clear

• Breastfeeding is an emotion-laden subject that deserves objective, evidence-based information to facilitate educated decisions

• The need for in-depth clinical knowledge and expertise to provide clients with up-to-date, accurate data and appropriate assistance

In order to qualify as an IBCLC, candidates who amass 1000 hours of experience working with breastfeeding mothers in the five years before they take the exam need not complete any additional hours. Otherwise, you must complete an additional 300 supervised hours of clinical practice with breastfeeding mothers.

Lactation Consultants also need expertise in supporting mothers and babies with more complex issues such as prematurity, twins and multiples, sick babies and those with special needs, poor weight gain, low milk supply, sucking problems, tongue-tie and cleft palate.

You will benefit from your tasks outside of the classroom when they line up perfectly with your lessons inside it. You may get to hear countless stories from more experienced professionals and obtain valuable hands-on experience when they manage to turn seemingly routine incidents into unique learning moments.

In addition, working with a diverse range of clients helps you build an understanding of different behaviours, situations, and problems you may encounter during your practise as a Lactation Consultant.

Meanwhile, many Lactation Consultants have significant work experience as RNs (Registered Nurses) or Staff Nurses.

Read about the profession and interview/job shadow experts working as lactation consultants to prove your commitment to course providers and prospective employers.

There is more than one viable route to becoming a Lactation Consultant, although higher education qualifications can facilitate more career opportunities and higher salaries.

Prospective Lactation Consultants can complete an accredited trade school or undergraduate certificate, bachelor’s degree, or master’s degree program in nursing, health sciences, or public health.

An ideal academic program would include sociology, biology, infant and child growth and development, patient communication, child nutrition, human anatomy, lactation therapy, human physiology, psychology, and research.

Focus on health sciences, psychology, and English in high school.

Certification in registered nursing, patient care, and medical procedures from an objective and reputed organisation can help you stand out in a competitive job market and become an independent consultant.

In addition, the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners offers certification programmes that include courses in biology, human anatomy, human physiology, infant and child growth and development, nutrition, research, sociology, and psychology. 

An IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) must also complete courses in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation, medical documentation, medical terminology, occupational safety, professional ethics, and safety precautions for infectious diseases.

Furthermore, Lactation Consultants must also complete 90 hours of lactation-specific education. A combination of education, experience, and testing is generally required to gain certification. Successful certification programs protect public welfare by incorporating a Code of Ethics.

Performance, experience, and the acquisition of professional qualifications drive the career progression of Lactation Consultants who may move into leadership positions in their hospital or practice. Self-employed professionals can attract more clientele and promote their private practice.

Candidates with adequate education, an IBCLC or equivalent certification and relevant experience in nursing have the best job prospects.

Continuing professional development (CPD) will help an active Lactation Consultant build personal skills and proficiency through work-based learning, a professional activity, 

formal education, or self-directed learning. 

Your employers may wish you to obtain the additional qualifications required to be certified as an RN. CPD also helps with the regular renewal of necessary certifications. Qualified IBCLCs need to prove that they have undergone at least 75 hours of CPD to obtain recertification.

Self-employed Lactation Consultants must market their services and create a strong network within their community. Referrals from satisfied former clients and positive recommendations from healthcare providers such as nurses, doctors or midwives will come in handy.

Baby Steps

Lactation Consultants help new-born babies and their mothers navigate challenges such as poor milk supply, trouble hitting important weight milestones and finding the proper nursing position, especially after a caesarean.

Baby falling asleep at the breast or refusing to breastfeed, marathon breastfeeding sessions that leave the mother exhausted and postpartum depression and pain while breastfeeding are other common issues that Lactation Consultants help resolve.

A Lactation Consultant can also help feed premature babies who haven’t yet developed a snychronised sucking, breathing and swallowing or infants with physical or neurological problems.

Potential Pros & Cons of Freelancing vs Full-Time Employment

Freelancing Lactation Consultants have more flexible work schedules and locations. They have full ownership of the business and can select their projects and clients. However, they experience inconsistent work and cash flow, which means more responsibility, effort and risk.

On the other hand, a full-time Lactation Consultant has company-sponsored health benefits, insurance, and retirement plans. They have job security with a fixed, reliable source of income and guidance from their bosses. Yet, they may experience boredom due to a lack of flexibility, ownership, and variety.

When deciding between freelancing or being a full-time employee, consider the pros and cons to see what works best for you.

10 to 15% of mothers experience lactation insufficiency; they produce less breastmilk than is required to sustain healthy infant growth through exclusive breastfeeding.

However emotionally and physically draining they might find the job, Lactation Consultants would not exchange one, which increases the number of women initiating breastfeeding, boosted breastfeeding rates, and helped more women exclusively breastfeed their newborns, for another.

“Be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know when you need help and brave enough to ask for it.”

Ziad K. Abdelnour