IBLCE to Host New IBCLC Appreciation Day on August 1 | |
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The vital support International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) provide to families navigating breastfeeding is worth celebrating—and the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners® (IBLCE®) wants you to join us!
We hope that hospitals, health systems, birthing centres, healthcare team members, families, other stakeholders, and IBCLCs themselves will mark a way to celebrate the occasion on August 1, as World Breastfeeding Week is kicking off. Our IBCLC Appreciation Day Toolkit, featured here, includes ideas to celebrate the day including easy-to-use social media posts, newsletter blurbs, and much more.
IBCLC Appreciation Day is part of IBLCE’s broader communications efforts to raise awareness about the IBCLC, the gold standard in lactation care. You’ll see more on social media, our website, and other channels throughout the rest of the year. Thank you for carefully noting that we are using the capabilities allowed by the Internet and social media platforms to be sensitive about articles and advertising space, but IBLCE cannot control all of the technology around digital articles/advertisements so cannot guarantee the advertisements to which IBLCE content is adjacent. It is important to IBLCE to disseminate broadly and publicly information about the amazing work done by IBCLCs around the world!
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Three IBCLCs Receive Prestigious AWHONN Awards | |
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Nastassia Harris, DNP, RN, IBCLC, received AWHONN’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Award which recognises “strong leadership and commitment in advancing and advocating evidence-based protocols, research or practices to combat maternal or newborn health outcome disparities to underserved or underrepresented populations in the U.S.”
Kelly McGlothen-Bell, PhD., RN, IBCLC, FAWHONN, received the 2024 Best of JOGNN (Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing) Award as lead author of the article “Intersectional Examination of Gender-Inclusive Care and Women’s Health.”
Congratulations to each of these IBCLCs for earning these distinguished awards and all they do to advance public health.
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Promoting the IBCLC Around the Globe | |
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The IBLCE Chair-Elect, Bayyinah Muhammad, BSN, RN, IBCLC, attended the World Health Organization Feeding of At-Risk Infants (FARI) under 6 Months of Age stakeholder meeting on April 24 – 26, 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.
After a hiatus related to the pandemic, IBLCE was delighted to return to the biennial ELACTA Conference. Held in May in the picturesque Belgian city of Liège, the IBLCE delegation, led by Board member Annabelle Mackenzie of the United Kingdom and including CEO Sara Blair Lake; Director of Operations for Europe, the Middle East & North Africa, Carole Iffinger; and colleague Sandrine Louvet, provided information, responded to questions, liaised with a number of IBLCE Coordinators, and met with the dynamic ELACTA Board under the leadership of Mihaela Niţa, a paediatrician and IBCLC from Romania. IBLCE congratulates ELACTA on its successful conference.
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Board Member Annabelle Mackenzie, MA (Cantab), IBCLC, and Coordinator for Finland, Meri Haahtela, RM, IBCLC, at ELACTA | |
IBLCE EUME Coordinators with Carole Iffinger and Sandrine Louvet at ELACTA | |
IBLCE is committed to stakeholder service and outreach, both for current IBCLCs and candidates and to elevating the visibility of the IBCLC. | |
IBLCE Coordinators Continue to Further IBLCE’s Mission | |
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The role of the IBLCE Coordinator is vital to the IBLCE mission and encompasses the promotion of IBLCE and its affiliates. Coordinators also serve as public representatives of the organisation at in-person and virtual forums, providing general information regarding the credentialing process, maintenance of certification, collateral materials, and other organisational initiatives.
With the addition of many enhancements to IBLCE’s infrastructure over the years, inclusive of the transition to computer-based testing (CBT) and an online application system, the Coordinator’s role has become primarily promotional, focusing on advancing the IBCLC and IBLCE. Per IBLCE policy, Coordinators have neither access nor exposure to the IBCLC examination questions nor any confidential examination content.
Additionally, with changes to the IBLCE organisational structure that enhance efficiency, increase nimbleness, and allow IBLCE to do more while preserving the integrity of the IBCLC certification programme, Coordinators can now, with prior approval from IBLCE, engage in occasional speaking engagements for non-profit organisations, as well as research and author a variety of materials that do not prepare candidates for the IBCLC examination. Appropriate advance disclosures with IBLCE review are required when presenting a session, conducting research, and/or authoring materials.
These changes will give the IBLCE Coordinators greater capacity to heighten the visibility of the IBCLC and the lactation profession worldwide!
IBLCE thanks its network of Coordinators for all they do for candidates and IBCLCs!
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2024 Care Award Recipients Announced | |
Congratulations to the 2024 IBCLC Care Award recipients! This year, 64 hospital-based and 35 community-based applications have been recognised from around the globe. | |
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IBCLC Care Award Facilities/Agencies are recognised by IBLCE and the independent professional association, International Lactation Consultants Association®, for two years.
Among the benefits to recipients of the IBCLC Care Award are:
- Enhanced attractiveness to potential patients or clients
- Competitive edge in recruiting IBCLCs, nurses, midwives, peer support counsellors, and other staff
- Good will in the community by providing excellent care in helping new families reach their breastfeeding goals
The IBCLC Care Award may be just what you’re looking for—learn more at the Care Award website and begin planning to apply in 2025 so that your Hospital-Based Facility or Community-Based Agency can be added to the growing list of IBCLC Care Award recipients!
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IBLCE thanks all those who responded to the brief survey in 17 languages regarding the World Health Organization International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes! In order to capture more feedback, IBLCE extended the time for response.
IBLCE is currently in the process of reviewing and analysing the responses received. As noted previously, the environment is dynamic with respect to the WHO Code due to mergers and acquisitions and the like, and IBLCE conducts reasonable due diligence. IBLCE’s mission is focused on credentialing in lactation and is appreciative of several other groups in lactation whose primary mission is devoted to advocacy with respect to the WHO Code and related commercial issues.
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Commission and IBCLC News | |
Due to Recertify in 2024? Apply by September 30! | |
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If your IBCLC certification expires this year, now is the time to complete the requirements to recertify by CERPs by the deadline on September 30, 2024!
Have you checked off the requirements to recertify?
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Take the Continuing Education (CE) Self-Assessment here if you haven’t already! (Learn more about accessing the CE Self-Assessment here.)
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Complete 75 CERPs, including:
- CERPs required by the results of your CE Self-Assessment
- 5 E-CERPs
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Basic Life Support Education (counts as 3 R-CERPs)
- Other CERPs selected by you based on your career path, practice setting, or interest areas in alignment with the Detailed Content Outline (DCO)
- Total CERPs must equal 75 hours!
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Complete 250 hours of Clinical Practice (learn more here)
- Apply to recertify by CERPs and pay the recertification fee (due once every five years)
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Be sure to complete all the requirements before you complete your application and pay! | |
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Learn more about Recertification by CERPs here.
Remember—even though your certification expires at the end of the year, the deadline to recertify is only a few months away on September 30, 2024!
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Over 1,700 candidates from 56 countries sat the April 2024 IBCLC examination.
Congratulations to all the new and recertifying IBCLCs who sat the April 2024 IBCLC examination!
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Monetary Investment for Lactation Consultant Certification® (MILCC®) News | |
Your Support Makes a Difference! | |
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A sincere thank you to all those who supported MILCC in commemoration of Juneteenth! Your gift to the Dr. Clifton J. Kenon, Jr. Health Equity Scholarship shows your commitment to reducing health disparities through the certification of lactation professionals primarily serving African-American communities in the United States.
This scholarship provides funding for initial certification or recertification lactation professionals who provide lactation care primarily to the African-American community. This new scholarship, established in 2020, is already having an impact:
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“I would like to thank you for awarding me with the Dr. Clifton J. Kenon, Jr. Health Equity Scholarship. I am so excited to share my good news with you: I am proud to say that I passed the April 2024 IBCLC examination and can now officially call myself an IBCLC!
I am so excited for this next chapter, and I am so grateful for your support throughout this process. Thank you!”
—Ngan Quan, IBCLC
New Jersey, USA
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In June 2024, MILCC received 79 scholarship applications from candidates in 26 different countries. Applicants will be notified of scholarship results in September.
Thank you to all who have supported MILCC to make these scholarships possible!
Learn more at www.milcc.org or follow MILCC on Facebook or Instagram.
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Global Centre for Lactation Training (GCLT) TM News | |
Seeking CERPs—Including E-CERPs—for Recertification by September 2024? Check the Centre’s Offerings! | |
As you plan for recertification, visit the Centre to find quality lactation education! Designed for a global audience, find these cost-effective educational offerings – with more in store – at www.gclt.org: | | |
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Integrating Colostrum Harvesting into Prenatal Support
1.25 L-CERPs
(Domain VII: Clinical Skills)
Learn more here
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Work, Milk, and Magic: Insights on the Realities of Working as an IBCLC while Breastfeeding
1 L-CERP
(Domain V. Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology)
Learn more here
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Ethics in Lactation Research
1.5 E-CERPs
(Domain VII: Clinical Skills—Ethical and Legal Issues)
Learn more here
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Educational and training offerings by the Global Centre for Lactation Training (GCLT)™ are optional and are not the sole way to pursue IBCLC (re)certification. | |
This briefing is being translated and will be disseminated in all IBLCE languages in the immediate future. | |
Follow IBLCE on Social Media | | | | |
