Lactation Program Review: 

Lactation Education Resources‘ (LER)

Lactation Consultant Training Program

with ‘ Certified Breastfeeding Specialist’ Certificate (CBS)

Reviewer: Bridget Whiteley-Ross, RN, CBS

Submitted July 9, 2019
Published Sept. 1, 2019

Year enrolled in Program: 2018

How long did it take you to complete the program? 1 year

Certification or Certificate Offered – ‘Certified Breastfeeding Specialist’ (CBS) certificate. See here for a detailed course syllabus.

Name of Instructor(s) – Vergie Hughes, MS, RN, IBCLC, FILCA and many others. Editor’s Note: See here – pg. 4 for complete list of LER Faculty Members.

Delivery of Program – Online delivery for 90 hours of lactation education 

Books & Materials Required – Breastfeeding and Human Lactation 5th Edition. Editor’s Note: LER recommends these books for its courses.

Cost of Program (Including books, materials, application fees, etc.) – $900+ USD

See here for listings and cost of various lactation training programs offered by LER.

# of L-CERPs, Nursing Contact Hours, CEUs, CPEs, etc. offered – 90 L-CERPs, 90 Nursing Contact Hours and 90 CPE Level II.

Editor’s Note: If you don’t need all 90 hours, LER also has an option that offers 45 L-CERP’s, 45 Nursing Contact Hours and 45 CPE’s. See here for more details and pricing.

Do this program’s hours meet partial or full requirements for the IBCLC exam’s lactation specific training requirement?

Yes, it meets the full 90 hour IBCLC lactation education requirement.

What did you like about the program?

It had many highly qualified IBCLC instructors, covering a wide and thorough topic range on lactation and breastfeeding.

What did you dislike about the program?  

Some instructors style preferred more than others but all were very informative.

What would you change about the program? 

Lengthy but probably necessary.

How rigorous/time consuming did you find the program? 

A few hours a day will help certify you within several months.

Did you feel this particular program used current, evidence-based resources and training materials? Yes.

Do you feel the program was clear in the scope of practice in which you’re allowed to practice? Yes.

Was there clear delineation between this program’s scope of practice and that of an IBCLC? Yes.

Did the program discuss when and how to refer to an IBCLC if necessary? Yes.

Would you recommend this program to others?  Yes, I would.

Knowing what you know now, would you take this program again?

I would definitely take this program again

Do you feel the course and/or certification helped you obtain your goals?  It gave me a solid start toward IBCLC pathway.

Are you currently an IBCLC? Not yet, working on pathway 1 or 3, trying to figure best Pathway for my schedule.

Are you currently working in the lactation field? If yes, feel free to expand on your position. If no, feel free to describe what type of work you’re doing, if you’d like to be in the lactation field and what you feel are the barriers stopping you.

I’m a registered nurse who worked NICU for years and stopped working but kept an active license. I took a break to raise a family and exclusively breasted my four children, for over eight years, total. I had some issues breastfeeding that i was able to work through successfully and I’m an avid supporter of breastfeeding! I’m currently looking for a way to achieve the hours required to take the IBCLC and i’m finding this to be a bit tricky.

Does this particular program/credential require you to recertify? If so, how long does the credential last and what is required to recertify?

The ‘Certified Breastfeeding Specialist’ credential obtained from LER is valid for 5 years.

Any additional comments you’d like to add?

This course was excellent and addressed issues that increased my knowledge base greatly.

Would you like to write a review of a Lactation Training Program that you’ve taken? If so, don’t be shy! You can access the review form directly from Galactablog. Or online via Google Forms here.

See here for more information on LER’s lactation training programs, along with a comparison of similar lactation training programs.

**Disclaimer – The views and opinions expressed in this review are those of the reviewer and do not reflect those of Galactablog. In order to remain objective and unbiased, Galactablog does not endorse or associate with any particular Lactation Training program. It is the reader’s responsibility to confirm program details (cost, dates, # of hours offered, program requirements, etc.) with the program itself as details can change once this post is published.

It’s also important to note that these views are not the only source of information about this particular lactation training program. See here for more program details in addition to a comparison of similar Lactation Training Programs. If you’re interested in Lactation Training Programs that offer a clinical practice component, see here.