I agree with you broadly! I also think that a big portion of the professionalization of lactation support is on IBCLE or ILCA or whatever it is that made the prereqs for IBCLC more difficult and thus more medicalized. I remember around the time when I became a doula was when they changed the pathways to make it suuuuper easy for any nurse etc to become an IBCLC but much harder for anyone with “just a community lactation support background, eg an LLL leader. That ultimately is contributing to these licensing bills (although I am in favor of IBCLCs being able to get reimbursed by insurance and thus serve more families). I’m in the same boat as you—I have a humanities degree and it would be a huge barrier for me to go back and take all of the science classes needed to become an IBCLC. It’s bullshit. The culture doesn’t change without people pushing it at all levels—in the community, in hospitals, in schools, in insurance companies, in public health, in mom groups, on social media, in the government (it’s true!) etc, so I see *some* value in conversations like the one that happened around this CT bill.
Yeah, that pathway for non-medical professionals is entirely bullshit. I looked into it a few years ago and was livid at how many expensive and time-consuming hoops are required for that IBCLC label. But have anything less and, unfortunately, you're not able to be employed and/or reimbursed in the same way. Ugh.
There is without a doubt an impulse within American culture that tells mothers and parents that any sort of "good" thing for your kids must be paid for, learned, and dolled out by an expert. IE, we must have a trained, certified consultant teaching you the proper way to do things. There is some maybe consumerist tendency here, that if I have the money, I should be able to buy the thing/life/result I want. I really couldn't agree with the republican legislator more, and what I appreciate from all the RMU articles (while I may not agree with absolutely everything of course) is that you are coming at motherhood from an actually nonpartisan lens, non ideological, not left or right or dem or republican. Everything we talk about in the country has to be seen in some tribalistic, political lens and its dumbs down the argument and means we don't critically think about things (its just, how do I prove my side is the best). I used to think that women posting pictures breastfeeding was silly, like before having kids, but I have soooo come around to the idea that we have to change culture on this for any real change to happen. It just has to be something we see if families, we hear is talked about, we see in art and pictures. Anyway, great, throughful article.
Fellow Swede here 👋 Totally agree with the culture part. I believe that the lack of lactation consultants here are due to the whole infrastructure around pregnancy and parenting that exists in Sweden. The state sponsored prenatal care, where you regularly meet a midwife and that informs you about breastfeeding before birth. The midwifes at the hospital consult about breastfeeding straight after birth, and they have a 24/7 hotline you can call the first week after birth of you have questions or complications. After that there is nurses/midwifes in the postnatal/ child program that offers support and education. All this is 'free' for the individual, meaning you don't pay for it, taxpayers do. But the biggest deal is probably the paid parental leave, and the cultural norm of a woman staying home and caring for her child for around a year after birth. You get 80 % of your income covered for roughly a year and there are clear laws that protects your employment and right to take time off for breastfeeding. So you can be titts out all day every day 😁
I don't live in the US but from what I know, every time the government comes and regulates something they make it worse and complicate everything with dumb rules
rules. Happened with midwifes that serve the state more than they serve women. Just saying that regulation and insurance covering a service is always the best way. I bet there's better ways of making lactation support more accesible for more people.
I agree with you broadly! I also think that a big portion of the professionalization of lactation support is on IBCLE or ILCA or whatever it is that made the prereqs for IBCLC more difficult and thus more medicalized. I remember around the time when I became a doula was when they changed the pathways to make it suuuuper easy for any nurse etc to become an IBCLC but much harder for anyone with “just a community lactation support background, eg an LLL leader. That ultimately is contributing to these licensing bills (although I am in favor of IBCLCs being able to get reimbursed by insurance and thus serve more families). I’m in the same boat as you—I have a humanities degree and it would be a huge barrier for me to go back and take all of the science classes needed to become an IBCLC. It’s bullshit. The culture doesn’t change without people pushing it at all levels—in the community, in hospitals, in schools, in insurance companies, in public health, in mom groups, on social media, in the government (it’s true!) etc, so I see *some* value in conversations like the one that happened around this CT bill.
Yeah, that pathway for non-medical professionals is entirely bullshit. I looked into it a few years ago and was livid at how many expensive and time-consuming hoops are required for that IBCLC label. But have anything less and, unfortunately, you're not able to be employed and/or reimbursed in the same way. Ugh.
There is without a doubt an impulse within American culture that tells mothers and parents that any sort of "good" thing for your kids must be paid for, learned, and dolled out by an expert. IE, we must have a trained, certified consultant teaching you the proper way to do things. There is some maybe consumerist tendency here, that if I have the money, I should be able to buy the thing/life/result I want. I really couldn't agree with the republican legislator more, and what I appreciate from all the RMU articles (while I may not agree with absolutely everything of course) is that you are coming at motherhood from an actually nonpartisan lens, non ideological, not left or right or dem or republican. Everything we talk about in the country has to be seen in some tribalistic, political lens and its dumbs down the argument and means we don't critically think about things (its just, how do I prove my side is the best). I used to think that women posting pictures breastfeeding was silly, like before having kids, but I have soooo come around to the idea that we have to change culture on this for any real change to happen. It just has to be something we see if families, we hear is talked about, we see in art and pictures. Anyway, great, throughful article.
I so appreciate this comment thank you
Fellow Swede here 👋 Totally agree with the culture part. I believe that the lack of lactation consultants here are due to the whole infrastructure around pregnancy and parenting that exists in Sweden. The state sponsored prenatal care, where you regularly meet a midwife and that informs you about breastfeeding before birth. The midwifes at the hospital consult about breastfeeding straight after birth, and they have a 24/7 hotline you can call the first week after birth of you have questions or complications. After that there is nurses/midwifes in the postnatal/ child program that offers support and education. All this is 'free' for the individual, meaning you don't pay for it, taxpayers do. But the biggest deal is probably the paid parental leave, and the cultural norm of a woman staying home and caring for her child for around a year after birth. You get 80 % of your income covered for roughly a year and there are clear laws that protects your employment and right to take time off for breastfeeding. So you can be titts out all day every day 😁
I don't live in the US but from what I know, every time the government comes and regulates something they make it worse and complicate everything with dumb rules
rules. Happened with midwifes that serve the state more than they serve women. Just saying that regulation and insurance covering a service is always the best way. I bet there's better ways of making lactation support more accesible for more people.
totally agree
Is NOT always de best** lol