Lactation Educator Training

Make a difference in the health of mothers and infants and add to your professional credentials through our Professional Education in Breastfeeding and Lactation (PEBL) course. The comprehensive course is taught by expert, board-certified lactation consultants.

Length of course: 5 days.
Campus: Kenmore, Washington

About Our Lactation Educator Training

Make a difference in the health of mothers and infants and add to your professional credentials through our Foundations for Best Practice in Lactation Care (FBPLC) course. The comprehensive five-day course is taught by expert, board-certified lactation consultants. The class provides you with the first 45 foundation hours for the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE) certification exam. To learn more about becoming an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, please visit the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners' website.

This course is designed for health care providers and lay people who want to provide accurate, current and consistent information about breastfeeding and lactation to expectant and new families. Content is based on current research as it applies to best practice issues in the clinical setting. In addition to attending all lectures, students complete a written study guide and outline a project of their choice.

Completion of FBPLC provides a Lactation Educator Certificate.

This Course is Intended For:

midwives and midwifery students
birth and postpartum doulas
childbirth educators
maternity or pediatric nurses
obstetricians, pediatricians or family physicians
WIC staff
early parenting educators
perinatal social workers
Early Headstart staff
La Leche League leaders who want updates and new scientific resources
public health nurses or staff working with new families
occupational or respiratory therapists working with breastfeeding newborns
dieticians serving pregnant women, new mothers and their babies
preparation for re-certification

Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are approved from:

International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners, Provider Number: CLT108-4 45 CERPs (43L & 2 E) (For IBCLCs only)
45 instructional hours on the IBLCE Exam Blueprint (for preparation for first IBLCE exam)
Commission on Dietetic Registration, 45 CPE hours, Category II (For RDs only)
Provider approved by California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number: CEP 141275 45 contact hours (For RNs only)

Institutional discounts and scholarships are available. Please phone the Simkin Center for more info at (425) 602-3361.

Training Details

Our Foundations for Best Practice in Lactation Care training is a five-day course.

Topics include:

Effective breastfeeding promotion
Prenatal breast assessment
Cultural influences on infant feeding choices
Importance of breastfeeding for the teenager
Getting breastfeeding started with evidence-based care
Why midwifery care makes sense for good breastfeeding outcomes
The effects of hospital routines on early breastfeeding
Predictable newborn behaviors
Importance of positioning and latch in early breastfeeding
Assessment of newborn latch and suck
Supplements for breastfed babies – when are they needed?
Influence of commercial baby food industries
Understanding the letters: IBCLC, IBLCE, ILCA
Maternal nutrition
Hyperbilirubinemia
Breastfeeding challenges and problems – engorgement, sore nipples
How we communicate with breastfeeding families
Communication skills – case studies
Liability and ethics about infant feeding
Maternal medications and breastfeeding
On-going breastfeeding problems – yeast, mastitis, abscess, plugged ducts
Breastfeeding multiples
Breastfeeding the premature infant
Relationships in the breastfeeding family
Culture and the conflict with human biology
Care of the slow to gain, poorly gaining infant
Relactation and nursing an adopted baby
The grief of a failed breastfeeding experience
Skills labs
The meaning of family-centered care
Setting up a lactation service
Postpartum depression and breastfeeding
Breastfeeding and the working mother
The real meaning of “Baby Friendly”
Breastfeeding the older child
When breastfeeding ends

Faculty

The Simkin Center Foundations for Best Practice in Lactation Care is lead by board-certified lactation consultants:

Molly Pessl BSN, IBCLC, FILCA

Upcoming Trainings

What Our Students Say

It really is the gold standard for doulas. I would take it again, just to stay on top of information. The instructors together are super. The normal ups and downs of breast feeding are well within scope of practice for the birth and postpartum doula. However, I now know when to refer for out of scope issues ... it helped clarify the doula scope and helped me gain confidence in my skills. This is the best workshop to take!
I wanted to let you know that I passed the IBLCE exam, and am now an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant! Part of my preparation was to take the [Simkin Center] Professional Education in Breastfeeding and Lactation workshop.
I have been a labor and delivery nurse for 17 years and was recently hired on as lactation staff in our hospital. The experience and knowledge gained [in the workshop] will have a tremendous impact on the way I practice and the information I give parents. I wish I’d had this same course years ago … even in nursing school.
Knowledgeable, compassionate instructors are what the [Simkin Center] is all about. I am constantly impressed with the quality of your programs.