In an ongoing effort to bring ILCA members the tools you need to spread evidence-based information about breastfeeding and advocate for the IBCLC, ILCA partners with organizations that bring training, skills, tools, and more.

ILCA is partnering with Aspire Communications again this year to teach visually interactive presentation techniques. You may have already seen these methods used in various training platforms, such as the WIC Peer Counselor materials, the Business Case for Breastfeeding collection, the Vermont Birth and Beyond platform and the new Coffective Baby Friendly Hospital training initiative.

ILCA has developed a number of opportunities for you to work with Aspire Communications *and* support ILCA.

Webinars. Watch this year for free webinars designed to introduce the concepts of visually interactive presentation techniques. These webinars will give you the tools you need to more effectively communicate with your audiences.

New! Aspire Communications Retreat. If you’ve taken the short webinar intro course in the past, this is an opportunity for a deeper, hands-on immersion so you can confidently use the principles right away. Experts onsite will walk you through the learning process with individual attention, regardless of your level of presentation experience.

Even better, you’ll master these skills while basking in Arizona’s balmy, sunny winter weather at the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Resort, February 25-27, 2015. The training includes valuable supporting materials—Aspire’s new Visual Language book series and template package. The book series documents everything you’ll be learning and the template package contains three pre-built master shows you’ll use to quickly assemble what’s known as a presentation platform—a flexible, powerfully visual collection of all your presentation content.

Enrollment in this 3-day event is limited to the first 30 registrants. When enrolling, be sure to use ILCA’s promotional code of ILCA050 and register before January 5^th to receive special discounted registration for ILCA members. See more details, costs and registration information here: http://www.aspirecommunications.com/training-visual-language-western-retreat-tucson-2015.html

You’ll master:

• All aspects of making and delivering PowerPoint presentations, including little known secrets that transform your talks into truly effective and engaging visual communication
• Converting bullet points into entertaining and memorable visuals that captivate audiences
• Building a flexible, hyperlink-based structure called a presentation platform that helps you organize and dynamically display any presentation topic at any moment
• Including video, meaningful animations, and documents in your presentation materials
• Building picture stories, picture roles, content graphics and other essential visual strategies
• Key photography techniques for capturing and building a personalized visual content library

ILCA receives a portion of the proceeds from this event. So, support your organization and sign up today to get these fantastic, career-enhancing skills!

We believe that International Lactation Consultant Association® (ILCA®) membership gives you valuable tools for providing evidence-based care to breastfeeding families. But don’t trust us – listen to your fellow members! We reached out to members from all over the world and asked:

WHY are you an ILCA member?

From Nicola O’Byrne (Ireland):

I’m very proud to be an ILCA member. Their membership represents a great example of leadership in our profession. They give wonderful support, guidance and knowledge to all of us as International Board Certified Lactation Consultants® (IBCLCs®). Thank you ILCA!

From Leigh Ann O’Connor (USA):

Being a member of ILCA is essential to my profession as a Private Practice IBCLC. It keeps me “in the know” in my field and keeps me connected to my peers around the world. I believe membership in my professional organization is important as it lets my voice be heard and I believe it is important to support the organization that supports me.

From Roberta Graham de Escobedo (Mexico):

Membership in ILCA means belonging to my “tribe.” Like minded, similarly focused, with shared passions, and fervently dedicated . . . those are some of the characteristics I have found in my fellow ILCA members. I am an ILCA member because I need to know that I am not working in a vacuum, but am a part of a worldwide network of change agents, movers, and shakers.

From Opal Horvat (USA):

I believe, as part of our profession, one SHOULD belong to our organization of associates and colleagues. It unites us in a way that can be a mighty force. ILCA gives a voice to be heard that is much larger than just my own. I expect that ILCA will speak for us, defend us if needed, and promote us so that we can promote breastfeeding. They are our ambassador in the healthcare field, promoting better policies for a healthier, stronger, and more brilliant world.

Elvis Ngala (Cameroon):

I can’t be any more thankful to be an ILCA member. It has changed so much in my career and professional pursuit. Cameroon is gradually getting the lactation consultant on the map!

Inma Mellado (Spain):

When I passed the IBCLC exam 3 years ago, I decided to look for ways to connect with other IBCLCs. First, I started with the ones in my local and national areas but felt the need to be connected with something more global, which I found with ILCA membership.

Jo Gilpin (Australia):

Working in isolation in a rural area in South Australia, I consider my ILCA membership essential to my private lactation consultant practice. I appreciate the fact that it is international in focus, therefore giving me the opportunity to view universal breastfeeding information and is a useful connection point with other lactation consultants world wide. My ILCA membership, with all its benefits and services, helps me maintain a high professional standard of service delivery to parents with their babies.

Christine Staricka (USA):

As a hospital-based IBCLC, my ILCA membership is a valuable tool in many ways.  My quick access to the latest research and the archives of the Journal of Human Lactation keep me current and help me educate hospital staff and update hospital lactation policies to reflect the best evidence base.  The articles also give me an international perspective that helps me consider lactation issues from a global scope. Our facility has benefited from my membership when I used my member discount to purchase items for World Breastfeeding Week.  The Members-Only section of the ILCA website provides me with skill-building tools for improving my value as an educator.  As a member of the professional association which supports my credential, I am able to represent the value of the IBCLC when participating in multi-disciplinary projects and teams in the hospital. I am providing better quality clinical care to our patients because of my member benefits. 

Do you like what you see? Consider ILCA membership.

The new membership package for 2015 includes benefits that allow you to:

• Grow your knowledge by earning up to 10 Free CERPs
• Guide your practice with the Journal of Human Lactation
• Help families find you with the Find a Lactation Consultant Directory
• Save you money with discounts on education and our annual conference
• Build your practice toolbox with access to share Inside Tracks with your clients
• Stay Connected through the ILCAlert and more!

If you are new to ILCA and are joining for the first time, you will have full access to all of ILCA’s member benefits as soon as you join.

If you are a current ILCA member, your membership expires on 31 December 2014. If you would like to continue your membership and receive the new benefits for 2015, including access to earn up to 10 FREE CERPs, you must renew by 1 January 2015.

In addition to our standard membership, also consider our Student membership and Retired membership. Each comes at a reduced cost to encourage all those supporting breastfeeding families to be an ILCA member. Click HERE for more information.

Want to take advantage of our GROUP discounts? These offer you a 10% discount for each individual participating in a group. Group memberships require a minimum of five (5) people to submit their membership applications via mail to the ILCA Office.

We hope you will consider ILCA membership. If you have any questions, please contact membership@ilca.org.

Supporting global policies that protect children’s health is a priority for the International Lactation Consultant Association® (ILCA®). We are proud to provide liaisons to the United Nations and stand with them on this important occasion. Watch on Facebook and Twitter for updates from our team who will be attending celebration events in New York City, New York USA this week.

As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on 20 November, the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) is reminded of how far advocacy for children has come—and how much work remains ahead for us to do. We have seen improvements in infant mortality rates, educational possibilities for all children, regardless of gender or socioeconomic status, and better access to quality health care. Yet, a significant number of infant deaths still occur due to poor maternal health and suboptimal breastfeeding practices.

The treaty, which has been ratified and used to drive policy in many nations worldwide, makes a promise to protect the rights of children, which include the right to live, the right to the best healthcare possible, food and safe water to drink, clothing, and a safe place to live. These and other important rights seem like concepts every government would want to adopt and enforce, but there are still nations that have not signed onto the treaty, and not all those nations that have ratified it have fulfilled their obligations under the treaty.

The impact of the business sector on the human rights of the child cannot be underestimated, and the CRC maintains that it is the responsibility of the state to protect children from predatory business practices, to implement and enforce internationally agreed standards concerning children’s rights, health and business, including the World Health Organization International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and relevant subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions.

In observance of this important anniversary, ILCA calls upon its members and partner organizations worldwide to encourage ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, so that we may all continue to improve the health and safety of children everywhere.

In July 2014, the International Lactation Consultant Association® (ILCA®) announced a new vision: World health transformed through breastfeeding and skilled lactation care. ILCA’s mission remains the same: Advancing the IBCLC profession worldwide. Out of this new vision have emerged three distinct pathways to help champion the ILCA member and make more relevant the IBCLC Profession in the global arena: establishing partnerships, mentoring developing organizations and creating equity and diversity.

Recognizing the obligation to advance the IBCLC profession worldwide and locally, ILCA has set a new course to extend our global outreach to all IBCLCs.

Establishing Partnerships

ILCA has long had relationships with other organizations. ILCA is a non-governmental organization (NGO) in official relationship with the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO). ILCA is a core partner of World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA). ILCA provides official representatives to Codex Alimentarius, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Assembly (WHA), and WHO National Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) Coordinators of Industrial Countries. These relationships are strong, and provide opportunity to keep breastfeeding and skilled lactation care in the forefront of the work of these organizations.

ILCA is launching a new initiative by reaching out to like-minded national and regional organizations within the lactation community. The focus of this effort is twofold: to define a formal relationship with global partners and to forge a collaborative network of organizations committed to expanding the reach and impact of the IBCLC profession worldwide. Currently, 21 entities have expressed interest in establishing a formal relationship with ILCA. As this number grows, we anticipate that a more coordinated and collaborative approach to expanding breastfeeding education and services will simultaneously advance the profession and amplify a common voice on the global stage.

Mentoring Developing Organizations

A second important element of ILCA’s global outreach effort is the plan to help foster developing organizations at the local and regional level. Small groups of IBCLCs throughout the world looking for help in moving to the next level are emerging daily. Most lack resources, infrastructure and direction. ILCA plans to serve as the catalyst for these aspiring organizations so they too may help grow the IBCLC profession and become active partners within the breastfeeding community.

Creating Equity and Diversity

Perhaps the most critical pathway to achieving ILCA’s vision rests in our ability to do our part to help create a culture within the field of breastfeeding that truly values equity and diversity. The first lactation summit sponsored jointly by IBLCE, ILCA and LEAARC: Addressing Inequities Within the Lactation Profession was an important step in identifying the barriers to equity and diversity in the profession. The next steps involve training, systematic analysis and strategic planning and the development of action plans to identify and implement the revisions necessary to create equity and diversity within the IBCLC profession.

Recently Cynthia Good Mojab, a member of the 2014 summit design committee, pointed out in her recent commentary entitled Pandora’s Box is Already Open: Answering the Ongoing Call to Dismantle Institutional Oppression in the Field of Breastfeeding that “Every organization that is committed to eliminating inequity in the field of breastfeeding must identify, dismantle, and re-create policies, procedures, practices, customs, and structures in which institutional oppression is encoded.” If we are to overcome these barriers, we must contribute to the creation of a culture of acceptance of the critical importance of equity and diversity. She also stated, “…it’s going to be difficult and we need to have a long-term, big picture outlook. We have much to learn and much to do” (email communication, October 2014).

The Journey Ahead

From many angles, the journey before us appears challenging—from others, exhilarating. ILCA is excited to be part of an initiative to expand and strengthen the global network of breastfeeding organizations within the IBCLC community. Likewise, reaching out to those previously unheard voices to join ILCA on this journey holds great promise. If you are in need of help to organize and inspire those around you to join this cause, we encourage you to contact ILCA today and let us help you create new opportunities for breastfeeding and lactation care in your community or region. Finally, it is only through our collective efforts to build a culture of acceptance of the importance of equity and diversity that the lactation community can realize the global impact needed to truly transform world health. Together we can create a profession that is open to all, reflects and effectively responds to the diversity of people/needs/communities, and creates support for each of us to do the work we love, so together we can transform world health through breastfeeding and skilled lactation care.

If you have questions or comments for our Board of Directors, you may contact them directly or comment here.