Lactation Courses

The Center for Breastfeeding has the expertise to meet your career and personal development needs with a wide range of lactation training programs.

The Center for Breastfeeding courses are indispensable for professionals working in the area of breastfeeding and human lactation, including physicians, nurses, nutritionists, public health providers, educators, lactation professionals, hospital staff, public health/WIC personnel, childbirth educators, public health nurses, nurses who work with pregnant or postpartum women, OB/GYNs, visiting nurses, pediatricians, family practice physicians, breastfeeding advocates, midwives, and perinatal outreach workers.

As a dual benefit, for those seeking CLC re-certification, the advanced programs, as well as our conferences, can be used for CLC renewal.

Our courses also provide continuing education for registered nurses, lactation consultants and lactation counselors. For more information about course accreditation information, click here.

Download our flyer for more information about these courses.

Lactation Counselor Training Course

The Lactation Counselor Training Course is a comprehensive, evidence-based, breastfeeding management course with a strong focus on clinical counseling and assessment skills. Participants build on theoretical foundations to gain practical skills and verify competency as well as optimizing their ability to solve basic and complex clinical breastfeeding issues. This college level course prepares participants for professional work in the hospital, in public health, and community settings. At the end of the course, participants who have completed all competencies may sit for the CLC® examination, the premier national certification in lactation management for the United States, which is administered by the Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice (ALPP).

Contact Hours
RNs: 52; IBCLCs: 52L CERPs

20-Hour Course

Take the 20 Hour Course over 3 days. This course fulfills the UNICEF recommendations for those who work with mothers and babies, and the training requirement for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. Based on the new 20-hour curriculum in support of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, this course was developed with support from the US Department of Health and Human Services for the US Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.

Contact Hours
RNs: 20; IBCLCs: 20L CERPs

Advanced Issues in Lactation Practice (with the opportunity to sit for the ANLC or ALC Credentialing Exam)

This interactive course provides the opportunity to qualify for an advanced certificate in lactation management while verifying the insight, knowledge and skills essential to the development and implementation of management strategies for complex problems related to breastfeeding and human lactation. Participants will examine actual challenging cases, and develop management strategies using knowledge of psychology, sociology, infant development, gender studies, professional interrelations and ethics.

Successful completion of this course allows participants to sit for the Advanced Lactation Consultant Exam administered by the Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice. The exam is required to receive college credit recommendations.

Pre-requisites

For Advanced Nurse Lactation Consultant Certification eligibility: A current RN license, successful completion of the course Maternal Infant Assessment for Breastfeeding and Human Lactation, and either an IBCLC or an ALPP CLC.
For Advanced Lactation Consultant certification eligibility: successful completion of the course Maternal Infant Assessment for Breastfeeding and Human Lactation plus either an IBCLC or an ALPP CLC.

Contact Hours
RNs: 45 Contact Hours; IBCLCs: 39L and 6E CERPs; College Credit Recommendations: 3 credits. Can be used towards CLC recertification.

Applied Teaching Methods

This course examines contemporary theories of adult education related to adult learning and develops health education with the goal of supporting the achievement of continuity of care in the maternal child health care setting. Course content provides a thorough grounding in adult learning principles for use in educating health care professionals and in fostering systems change through transformative learning. Students will engage in a variety of learning laboratory activities (including delivering a lactation-specific presentation to the class) and gain experience in the design and delivery of educational offerings with a focus on supporting continuity of care in the area of breastfeeding and human lactation. These strategies may be useful for those who want to implement change such as implementation of the WHO/UNICEF 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.

Contact Hours
RNs: 44.5 Contact Hours; IBCLCs: 44.5L CERPs; College Credit Recommendations: 3 credits. Can be used towards CLC recertification.

Case Studies in Lactation Practice

This course provides a new framework for evaluating and solving breastfeeding problems. Case studies will be examined through an eight-level process. Working in large and small groups, participants will gain insight and direction for solving lactation problems. Learn from the authors who wrote the book on Case Studies in Breastfeeding!

Contact Hours
RNs: 13; CLCs: 13; IBCLCs: 7 L CERPs & 6 E Cerps

Community Breastfeeding Educator

This foundation course for community workers in maternal child health focuses on providing services to pregnant women to encourage the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding. Strategies are presented for providing anticipatory guidance and support in order to prevent breastfeeding problems as well as to address barriers to breastfeeding in order to enable women to overcome any perceived or actual breastfeeding problems.

Contact Hours
RNs: 20; IBCLCs: 20L CERPs; Can be used towards CLC recertification

Maternal Infant Assessment for Breastfeeding and Human Lactation Course

This course utilizes a case study format to develop proficiency in the process of assessment and analysis of the breastfeeding dyad, and to differentiate optimal conditions from those that are sub-optimal, as well as summarize and document the assessment. Major topics covered in the course are optimal and sub-optimal breastfeeding related anatomy of mother and infant, normal and abnormal development of the anatomy and physiology of the breastfeeding mother and baby, breastfeeding assessment tools, breastfeeding assessment and the lexicon of breastfeeding and human lactation.

Required Texts

Maternal and infant assessment for breastfeeding and human lactation: a guide for the practitioner, 3rd ed.– Cadwell, K., Turner-Maffei, C., O’Connor, B., Blair, A., Arnold, L., and Blair, E. (2021). (Harwich Mass.: Healthy Children Project, Inc.).

Can be purchased from Healthy Children Project at time of registration.

Every patient tells a story: medical mysteries and the art of diagnosis – Sanders, L. (2010). (New York: Broadway Books).
PURCHASE HERE

Contact Hours
RNs: 31.25; IBCLCs: 31.25L CERPs; College Credit Recommendations: 2 credits. Can be used towards CLC recertification

Working Together

This course explores the theories of team and group processes including the use of teamwork tools, participatory action research, data-driven planning, quality improvement processes and evidence-based practice using a framework of breastfeeding promotion, protection and support. Breastfeeding coalitions, WIC programs, hospital staff and others can benefit from this training.

Contact Hours
RNs: 13; IBCLCs: 13L CERPs, CLCs: 13