Our IBCLC Journey
IBLCE (International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners) is valued worldwide as the most trusted source for certifying practitioners in lactation and breastfeeding care. IBLCE establishes the highest standards in lactation and breastfeeding care worldwide and certifies individuals who meet these standards as IBCLC (International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant).
BPNI Maharashtra succeeded in bringing IBLCE Exam to India in 2009. Our current President Dr. Mangala Wani was already an IBCLC then and her guidance proved crucial in preparing our members for the exam. In a span of 2 years (2009-10), 27 faculty members of BPNI Maharashtra were accredited as IBCLC. These included senior faculty from Depts. of Neonatology, Paediatrics & Community Medicine of Municipal Medical Colleges in Mumbai. This accreditation helped our faculty to widen the horizons of their knowledge to help the mothers and helped many to get appointed as Lactation Consultants in Private Institutional Hospitals of Mumbai and Pune.
In 2018 we decided to take this challenge to a Municipal Medical College [LTMG (Sion) Hospital] in Mumbai with UNICEF support. Due to an initiative taken by Dr. Radha Ghildiyal (Professor & Head, Dept of Paediatrics), Dr. Swati Manerkar (Associate Professor, Dept of Neonatology) and with support from the Dean Dr. Jayashree Mondkar we succeeded in training the 3rd batch of 44 candidates for IBLCE Exam scheduled for October 2018. The candidates included almost the entire Depts. of Paediatrics and Neonatology (Total 30 delegates: MD exam going senior residents to Professors). Remaining candidates included practicing paediatricians and doctors\nurses from other medical colleges from Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
We conducted 4 workshops of 3 days each (Total 96 hours) to prepare delegates for the exam and also to help them to meet ‘Minimum 90-hour Lactation Specific Training’ eligibility. All the candidates already had minimum 1000 hours of Lactation Counselling Experience which is an additional eligibility criterion.
We have conducted 2 more batches (4th & 5th) in 2019 & 2020 at LTMG Hospital & Wadia Hospital respectively with UNICEF support.
Some of the Important Link of IBLCE Exam
https://iblce.org/step-1-prepare-for-ibclc-certification/
https://iblce.org/step-2-certification-fees-and-key-dates/