For milk’s sake
My blog, like so many other areas of my life right now, has been rather neglected. I’ve had ideas for posts zinging around in my brain and I’ve jotted down a few notes here and there, but my focus has been elsewhere. My brain is pinned on July 25 and how many snips of time I can spend with my textbooks before then.
On July 25 I’ll be heading to Calgary to write the IBLCE exam to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). I’ve been preparing for the exam since the fall, and I’ve majorly stepped up my studying hours in the past few weeks. Squeezing extra hours out of my days filled with my children, my husband, my friends, and my clients has had me burning the candle at both ends (sometimes on three ends, it seems). Stepping back and looking at why I’m working so hard has helped me to keep my focus and drive.
So why am I doing all this? The more time I spend thinking about it, the more reasons I seem to come up with.
I’m becoming an IBCLC because I think that there’s a huge need for sound, quality breastfeeding support. Over the past four years as a La Leche League Leader, I’ve seen parents with their heads spinning from all the conflicting information they’ve heard. I’ve seen moms working so hard to overcome setbacks that they might have been able to avoid with the proper tools and support in their early days of breastfeeding. I’ve talked with families whose breastfeeding difficulties have been beyond my scope as a LLL Leader, and I’ve had helping situations fall flat on their face because of the realities of trying to juggle a meeting and my own children.
I’m becoming an IBCLC because the more I learn about the health implications of breastfeeding, the more convinced I am that my time and energy can have their greatest impact by supporting families with breastfeeding. Whether it’s seen in the infant’s rate of pneumonia or diarrhea, in the mother’s risk of developing ovarian or breast cancer, or in the multitude of other diseases and illnesses, it’s clear to me that the small act of supporting breastfeeding can have a huge long-term reach.
I’m becoming an IBCLC because I think that families deserve compassionate, empowering care. One of the things I love about the IBLCE exam is that counseling skills are a huge consideration. It’s not just what we say to people that matters, but how we say it. In an age where almost any bit of information is an internet connection away, the personal connection of a one-on-one helping situation matters more than ever. Parents can read books and websites, but having an understanding helper to connect them with information puts a much weightier tool into parents’ hands.
I’m becoming an IBCLC because I’ve been the mom who felt scared, confused, in pain, and alone. I’ve felt the magical release of tension that comes when someone says “You’re doing great. These struggles are normal. You’ll get through the intensity of this”. I want to connect parents to information and to a community of breastfeeding support. I want families to know that they’re not alone and that they can always find help.
I’m becoming an IBCLC because I think that breastfeeding is something fundamentally normal and powerful. I believe that all parents should have choices on how to care for their infants, and that choices can only truly be made in the presence of support and information. Because families deserve no less than that.
And on that note, I’m hunkering back down with my books and practice exams. If you can spare some good vibes for me on exam day they’d be greatly appreciated and I’ll see you all on the other side!
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