ILCA NEWS

2008 World Breastfeeding Week Mother Support: Going for the Gold ILCA WBW Kit is HERE!

ILCA's 2008 World Breastfeeding Week Kit is  here, along with some great new promotional items! Place your orders before July 17 to insure that your order arrives in time for World Breastfeeding Week.

Here are just a few of the resources in this year's kit:

• Checklists for mother's circle of care members
• Ideas for outreach and displays
• Certificates
• Waiting room signs
• Background information on this year's theme

For more details on the Kit, visit http://www.ilca.org/worldbreastfeedingweek.html. To get the discounted member price of $23, log into the ILCA Bookstore with your member number and password.

Be sure to check out the promotional items ILCA has for WBW 2008 at the Bookstore

Several items can also be found in the Members Only section of the Website.

Here's to a successful celebration!

Fellow of the International Lactation Consultant Association (FILCA)
This July at the Annual Conference we will honor those IBCLCs who have qualified and applied for the Fellow of the International Lactation Consultant'Association award. For this first year the FILCA Review Committee appraised 23 blinded applications with 16 of those reaching the score needed to qualify for the award.

This first group of FILCA Awardees is an inspiration to all who help families, mothers, and babies breastfeed. These experts represent the leaders of ILCA and have authored the publications and presentations by which others have been able to obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to carry on the important work of being a lactation consultant. They have provided breastfeeding care for countless families. Finally, they have enabled aspiring lactation consultants to join our profession to improve the health of people through breastfeeding. We applaud and honor this group by bestowing upon them the FILCA award. Learn who they are by attending the Annual Meeting at the Conference.

Criteria for becoming a FILCA include a longstanding membership in ILCA, volunteer work in ILCA, IBCLC certification longevity, self development, and significant contribution to the field of lactation consulting. Each year, the FILCA review committee will review applications and award a new group of Fellows. Further details about the award and the inaugural Fellows will appear in upcoming eGlobes.

On-line Study Modules — Learn and Earn!
ILCA's new online study module site is now live! Click here to begin your online experience with ILCA's study modules. You can now complete your ILCA study modules online and receive your certificate of completion immediately.

Learn new information while you Earn credit toward your certification

 Need a few more E- CERPs? ILCA has them!

 Need an update on a particular topic? ILCA has scores of topics!

 Want to complete your modules from the JHL online? Now you can!

 Want to see modules from the 2006 and 2007 conferences? They're one click away!

Click here to learn more about ILCA study modules. Contact education@ilca.org or 919-861-5577, extension 310 with any questions.

Research Presentation Award
The Research Committee is pleased to announce the ILCA Conference Research Presentation Award. This new award is sponsored in 2008 by Barbara Wilson-Clay, Kay Hoover, and Rebecca Mannel, and consists of two $500 awards to presenters of either poster or oral research at the Las Vegas conference. The spirit of the award is to help beginning researchers bring their work to publication. This award is in addition to the annual Poster Awards, which are presented to the best poster presentation in research and project categories. [more]

2007 Conference Issues Forum Update
ILCA Conference Exhibit Hall: Who's In, Who's Out, and Who Decides?
What ever happened after the lively Issues Forum, held at the 2007 Conference, addressing the hot-button topic "Should ILCA Allow Commercial Exhibitors in its Exhibit Hall?" Here's an update from ILCA Board Secretary, Liz Brooks. [more]

Potential ILCA Members: WIN-WIN for Everyone
If you have friends and colleagues who are sitting the IBCLC exam for the first time later this month, encourage them to join ILCA now! ILCA membership is not dependent on being an IBCLC, and the increased contact with other IBCLCs through the eGlobe, the Members Only section of the ILCA website, and the Journal of Human Lactation can benefit those on their path toward IBCLC certification.

Alternatively, join together with other IBCLC colleagues to gift the newly-certified IBCLC with his/her first ILCA membership. A combined gift, through pooled resources and in the name of your group, is a great way to introduce a new IBCLC to the ILCA family and our profession.

Help spread the word - ILCA membership opens doors to professional growth for newly certified IBCLCs, and a growing professional organization benefits us all!

Each One Reach One Race Ends!
As the June 30 deadline came and went, our members rushed to the finish line. Be ready to cheer as the award is announced at the Annual Meeting. Congratulations to the winners of the FREE conference registration for ILCA ORLANDO 2009!

WABA World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) 2008 Marathon Events Specially minted WBW Medals to be won!
As part of the run-up to WBW, WABA has organized a breastfeeding event contest. 

• WBW 2008 Marathon Celebrations offer Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal to organizers of celebrations lasting throughout WBW with at least 2 different events

• WBW 2008 Global Breastfeeding Wave Event (Mass Breastfeeding) offers Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal to organizers of a mass breastfeeding event during WBW 2008. Each mother/baby pair must breastfeed for a minimum of 1 minute during the event, and awards are based on numbers of mother/baby pairs.

More details can be found at the WBW website, www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org.

IBLCE New Condensed Pathways
IBLCE recently announced revised eligibility criteria for individuals wishing to become International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs). Four pathways are now available for aspirants and are considered minimal minimum requirements. Based upon the individual's training and background, additional coursework or lactation specific clinical practice hours may be needed to successfully complete the examination.
 
Individuals wishing to take the IBLCE exam in 2009 may qualify through these revised criteria. Persons who have been working toward exam eligibility under the former pathways should contact IBLCE at iblce@iblce.org. More details will be forthcoming on their website, www.iblce.org. ILCA members working with IBCLC aspirants and promoting our profession are encouraged to share this new, exciting development.

Participants Sought for Research in Induced Lactation
Individuals who have induced lactation within the last three years are being sought to participate in a study being conducted by Lenore Goldfarb, B. Comm., B. Sc., Dip. C., IBCLC, for her doctoral research. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the practices and outcomes of women who followed a protocol or procedure to induce lactation to provide breastmilk to their baby and the experiences they have had. Study participants would complete an internet-based survey.

For more information about this study, or to assist in soliciting participants, please contact Lenore Goldfarb at Lenore.Goldfarb@tui.edu.

Call for IBLCE Board Position Applications
The International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners is seeking candidates to fill two Board positions beginning in 2009 for a three year term. These positions are Representative from the Asia-Pacific Region and PhD Researcher. Read on for further information about the positions, Board responsibilities, and application materials. Deadline for applications is July 15, 2008 [more]

Concerning: Education News in June 2008 eGlobe
As a 2008 ILEAC member I would like to clarify that ILEAC has not been "restructured", however ILCA and IBLCE have decided in their strategic planning meeting April 2008 to dissolve ILEAC. This decision has been taken without any input from ILEAC's chair or members or discussion with them. The ILEAC chair and members have been informed in a conference call on May 17, 2008, that ILEAC has been dissolved and a task force to form a new ILEAC shall be created. This is a strong contradiction to statements of appreciation of ILEAC's work and the goal of independence and it strongly discourages qualified professional work of volunteers.

Márta Guóth-Gumberger, IBCLC, Germany

ILCA Board Responds:

ILCA recently convened a 20-member Strategic Planning Group, including 3 representatives from IBLCE, which identified the most important issue facing our profession: how to turn the IBCLC into a high-stakes credential. A significant factor in achieving this goal is a more defined/standardized educational pathway to enter the profession and the need for a major expansion of our accreditation process in order to encourage development of and provide accreditation for university level programs. These goals echo and affirm those developed at ILCA's March 2007 Marketing the Credential meeting– which also included members from around the world and IBLCE representation.

In particular, the Strategic Planning Group discussed at length the importance of an independent, expanded accreditation process. Over the past 10+ years, the existing accreditation process has been focused on designing and developing an accreditation process for 3-5 day assessment-based certificate programs. While there is a need for some type of recognition for these courses, the group identified an urgent need for development of an accreditation process directed at university-level programs. Colleges and universities are more likely to develop new programs if they can be accredited. The Strategic Planning Group considered the current structure to be very limited and unable to accommodate the needed expansion and redirection required.

Hence, the recommendation from the Strategic Planning Group to the ILCA Board was a complete restructuring of the accreditation process, starting with the formation of a task force with IBLCE representation. The task force will review existing accreditation bodies of other professions and then recommend a new structure. The ILCA Board approved the recommendations of the Strategic Planning Group at its April 2008 board meeting. As a result, the ILCA Board has dissolved the existing ILCA committee (ILEAC) and launched a task force. The accreditation task force includes a member of the former ILEAC, has had an initial meeting by conference call and will meet in person at the July ILCA conference. The goal is to have a new accreditation body in place by September 2008. Development of university-level programs, including didactic and clinical training components, will strengthen the educational pathway and help to define the IBCLC as a high-stakes credential.

Becky Mannel
President
ILCA Board of Directors

CALENDAR

July 17
Deadline for ordering WBW Kits for August

July 20— 22
ILCA Board Meeting

July 23— 27
ILCA/USLCA Conference

July 28
IBLCE Exam

August 1— 7
World Breastfeeding Week

September 1
Deadline for "Table of Ideas" at VELB/ILCA Conference