Anyone ever looked into being a lactation consultant?

aelliott04

After my first child, it was something that interested me. Kind of looked into but let it go as I thought it wouldn't happen. However, now that I'm pregnant again, I've been thinking about it again. Just curious if anyone on here has ever worked with breastfeeding women in this capacity or similar? It's something I'm passionate about but kind of like "where do I start?" Looking up info on the internet is overwhelming so really would like to find a mentor/networking group. Thanks!

belladonna11307

I was curious about it after my first and looked into it on the internet.  From what I could tell, if you don't already have a medical background of some sort, you pretty much have to start out getting trained in a medical field (nurse, PA, etc) while getting lactation training.  You would then spend time shadowing an experienced consultant before working on your own, Without a medical background, it's probably a couple years of training, with a medical background, it's a couple of classes (probably about a year) and internship.  I'd start either with your local hospital or LLL, either would probably have certified lactation consultants you can talk to about their training and experience.  Good luck, whatever you decide!