Courses

All reading material is included in the courses or links to helpful websites are provided.
We encourage you to purchase a good quality lactation text and perhaps consider adding a new book to your collection each year.

The Health e-Learning tutors have combined their votes of their favourite books as listed below - see also the IBLCE suggested reading list

Reading Resources

Clinical

Riordan J, Wambach K   Breastfeeding and Human Lactation  2010
Wilson-Clay B, Hoover K     The Breastfeeding Atlas  3rd edition 2008
Lawrence R     Breastfeeding: a Guide for the Medical Profession 2010
West D, Marasco L     A Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk  2010

Counselling

Lauwers J, Swisher A    Counseling the Nursing Mother  5th edition 2010

Advanced

Watson-Genna C    Supporting Sucking Skills in Breastfeeding Infants  2010
Hale & Hartmann     Textbook of Human Lactation    2008
Hanson L               Immunology of Human Milk  2004
Smith L                  Impact of Birth Practices on Breastfeeding 2nd Ed, 2009

Hale T    Medications and Mother’s Milk  2010 (revised every 2 years) - considered essential for all practioners

Online Resources

Breastfeeding Gateway
PubMed tutorial
Cochrane Reviews
Lactation Resource Centre

Breastfeeding Advocacy and Action

WABA (World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action)
UNICEF UK
IBFAN (International Baby Food Action Network)

Counselling/ Mother Support

La Leche League International
Australian Breastfeeding Association
Breastfeeding Made Simple

 

Other

Breastfeeding Online
Stanford Newborn Nursery Photo Gallery
Medline Plus
Lactnet archives
Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine
Breastfeeding after Breast and Nipple Surgery
Medscape - Subscribe for their online notifications
Relactation and induced lactation
Kangaroo Mother Care, Dr Nils Bergman
International Society for Research into Human Milk and Lactation
Evidence-based psychology and psychoneuroimmunology
Biological Nurturing, Dr Suzanne Colson
InfantRisk Webforums

Journals

Journal of Human Lactation
Breastfeeding Review
Clinical Lactation
International Breastfeeding Journal (free access journal)
Breastfeeding Medicine
Journal of Nutrition
British Medical Journal
Pediatrics
Google alerts - choose terms such as 'breast milk', 'breastfeeding', etc and Google will send you alerts whenever new items match your criteria

To qualify to sit the IBLCE examination you must obtain an amount of education - the program or course you do must cover all of the disciplines examined as outlined in the Blueprint published by IBLCE. Take the time to read through this blueprint - and make sure that whichever education program you choose covers all of the listed topics. Discussions with other lactation education providers helped cement our own position that 45 hours simply is not enough to cover all the information a Lactation Consultant needs to know in order to be prepared to give the best care and advice to those who put their trust in us.

You may have noticed on the IBLCE website that while they have set 45 hours to be the minimum, they highly recommend a course or program of at least 80 - 150 hours, noting that students who complete the more comprehensive programs are more likely to pass. The Exam is set at a university Masters level, so you can imagine how in-depth you need to study each of the disciplines.

Our BreastEd Series is the program we have developed that is used by hundreds of students to prepare each year. This program is AARC-approved, indicating that a committee made up from both IBLCE and ILCA have approved it as a quality, comprehensive program for preparation for future IBCLCs. The program consists of 10 online courses, each taking about 12 hours to complete.

If you enroll in the whole series at once, you'll be enrolled in all 10 courses for 12 months, allowing plenty of time right up to, and after, the Exam to review the topics at your leisure. You can, of course, complete them at the pace that suits you, having them finished well before the Exam, but still having access to the tutors, your colleagues and the content. Everything is online, including the final assessment. A workbook is printed from the program, completion of it providing you with an excellent resource, but not having to be submitted.

If you feel like chatting to some people who have or are going through this process, you may wish to join Health e-Learning as a member (free) and explore our Community Forum - you could ask if there are any LCs in your area who might be able to help you, or ask for advice on how others became LCs.

You can complete the courses in whichever order you like, however some courses do flow on nicely from others. We recommend completing the series in the following order: BE01, BE02, BE03, BE04, BE07, BE09, and then completing BE05, BE06, BE08, BE10 and Ethics in any order after those.

This depends on you: your current knowledge, and professional situation. For advice, you can ask at the Community Forum. Your question will be seen not only by Health e-Learning's trained staff members, but also by your peers in the lactation community, including a lot of Health e-Learning's prior students who have been through the courses themselves. This means that you'll hopefully get a highly balanced view from many different points of view.

Any information you can provide about your experience will help you get a better-tailored response, for example, if you are an LLL Leader, a midwife in Australia, or just have a keen interest in Breastfeeding. Also be sure to read to see if anyone else has asked the same question!