Lactation Program Review: 

Healthy Children’s Center for Breastfeeding’s  

Lactation Counselor Training Course

By Anonymous, CLC, ALC &IBCLC

Submitted December 25, 2017
Published on November 4, 2018

How long did it take you to complete the program? 5 days

Certification or Certificate Offered – Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC)

Delivery of Program – In-person

Books & Materials Required – The Pocket Guide for Lactation Management by Karin Cadwell, 2nd edition (can be purchased on Amazon from about $25-$35 or purchased at class for $55). A course guide with an outline of all instruction along with a resource appendix is free and included in course costs.

Cost of Program (Including books, materials, application fees, etc.) – $600-800

# of L-CERPs, Nursing Contact Hours, CEUs, CPEs, etc. offered – 45 Nursing contact hours, L-CERPs, CPEs; 4.5 CEUs for CNMs

Do this program’s hours meet partial or full requirements for the IBCLC exam’s lactation specific training requirement?  Yes, partial hours (it meets 45 of the required 90 hours of lactation education).

What did you like about the program?

• Gave a good basic knowledge to answer questions of the pregnant or nursing mother.
• Gives the CLC a good starting range of information on many aspects of lactation.
• Allows an RN or other medical professionals to add to their current knowledge base and support breastfeeding.

What did you dislike about the program?

• This is a basic knowledge course, it does not actually teach enough to start a practice to assist a mother who is struggling or has a special need. This is enough information to hold a support group or discuss basic questions about lactation.
• The CLC scope of practice is very muddled and unclear. The instructors will not discuss comparison to IBCLC and make it clear that they feel their teaching is equivalent and encourage private practice. See here for Healthy Children’s comparison paper between CLCs and IBCLCs.

What would you change about the program?

• Be more understanding and informative that this is a basic knowledge course and does not give the amount of information needed, the scope, or the ability for a CLC to start a practice to help mothers with problems concerning lactation and instead gives the ability to answer basic questions for “normal” cases only.
• The CLC would be excellent for those looking to answer questions about lactation for pregnant mothers or hosting in support group settings. Advanced, specific, or “abnormal” individualized patient care should be referred to an IBCLC. The scope and ability must be set very clearly and not over exaggerated.

How rigorous/time consuming did you find the program?

• Extremely, the exam is comprehensive and involves a great deal of information that may have only been given a brief allotment of time to be taught.
• Participants should understand that they should study the information they were taught each day after the course time.

Would you recommend this program to others?

Yes, depending on their intentions in the field and their prior knowledge base.

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

I would. This was a great starting point for my path to IBCLC.

Do you feel the course and/or certification helped you obtain your goals?

• I do, it gave a good amount of basic knowledge.
• Overall this was a good stepping stone and would encourage it as such.
• I do not recommend taking only the CLC if intending to private practice helping mothers with lactation problems.

Does your program/credential require you to recertify? If so, how long does the credential last and what is required to recertify? Yes, every 3 years. Recertification requires 18 hours of continuing education.

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 directly online via Google Forms here.

**Disclaimer – The views and opinions expressed in this review are those of the author and do not reflect those of Galactablog. In order to remain objective and unbiased, Galactablog does not endorse or associate with any program in particular. It is the reader’s responsibility to confirm program details (cost, dates, # of hours offered, program requirements, etc.) with the program itself. 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 on Healthy Children’s Lactation Counselor Training Course, along with a comparison of similar Lactation Training Programs. If you’re interested in Lactation Training Programs that offer a clinical practice component, see here.

Lactation Program Review: 

Healthy Children’s Center for Breastfeeding’s  

Lactation Counselor Training Course & CLC Certification

By Anonymous

Submitted May 29, 2016
Published February 6, 2018

How long did it take you to complete the program? 5 days

Certification or Certificate Offered – Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC)

Delivery of Program – In-person

Books & Materials Required – The Pocket Guide for Lactation Management by Karin Cadwell, 2nd edition (can be purchased on Amazon from about $25-$35 or purchased at class for $55). A course guide with an outline of all instruction along with a resource appendix is free and included in course costs.

Cost of Program (Including books, materials, application fees, etc.) – $730-800

# of L-CERPs, Nursing Contact Hours, CEUs, CPEs, etc. offered – 45 Nursing contact hours, L-CERPs, CPEs; 4.5 CEUs for CNMs

Do this program’s hours meet partial or full requirements for the IBCLC exam’s lactation specific training requirement? Yes, they fulfill partial hours (45 out of 90 hours required).

What did you like about the program?

The instructors were very knowledgeable and kind. They seemed to enjoy teaching very much. They were always happy to answer any questions the students had. Even though I have worked in the medical field for 16 years and breastfed two children I learned a lot of things I didn’t know. They presented it in a way that was easily understood even if you didn’t have a medical background or had never breastfed before . They didn’t overload us with homework at night, what homework we did have was interesting and helpful to our learning .

What did you dislike about the program?

They said many times during the week this course would focus mostly on the counseling aspect, and it seemed to for the most part, but the exam questions were based mostly on the medical aspect. I also felt we should have watched more videos on a proper latch so we would be better prepared for the LAT/video portion of our exam. I wasn’t as confident about the LAT portion as I was the multiple choice part of the exam. I also felt sorry for anyone taking the multiple choice who didn’t have a very solid medical background..

How rigorous/time consuming did you find the program?

My kids are older so they stayed with family . I booked a hotel near the training site. I did take off work of course because the training site was two hours from my hometown. I felt it was very comprehensive and I was a little brain dead by bedtime every night , but it was doable if you stay focused.

What would you change about the program?

I would incorporate more latch videos with each training day. If you aren’t a visual learner you may struggle with trying to spot what was wrong or right about the videos in the short amount of time we had to asses the videos then write down what we saw . I would also ENSURE the testing area on the day of the test had no excess noise. Our testing area had an enormous amount of excess noise nearby and the instructors were aware of that noise problem during our classes all week. We voiced our concerns that this noise would be untolerable while taking a test. They told us it would be taken care of but wasn’t . I feel if they had been more proactive earlier in the week by test day we wouldn’t have had that problem.

Would you recommend this program to others?

Yes, I think the instructors were on target with what they taught. I would just tell others to watch ALOT of videos on a baby latching on , proper latch, poor latch so they would be better prepared for the exam .

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

Do you feel the course and/or certification helped you obtain your goals?

Yes, I wanted to obtain my CLC for private practice . And I feel this course was a great start.

Additional comments?

Require a quiet test area on test day. You paid a great deal for this course and most people traveled to get there, and took time away from their families . So you deserve a good environment for test day.

Does your program/credential require you to recertify? If so, how long does the credential last and what is required to recertify? My CLC credential lasts is good for 3 years. Recertification requires 18 hours of continuing education.

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 directly online via Google Forms here.

**Disclaimer – The views and opinions expressed in this review are those of the author and do not reflect those of Galactablog. 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 on Healthy Children’s Lactation Counselor Training Course, along with comparison of similar Lactation Training Programs. If you’re interested in Lactation Training Programs that offer a clinical practice component, see here.

Lactation Program Review: 

Healthy Children’s Center for Breastfeeding’s  

Lactation Counselor Training Course & CLC Certification

By J.H.

Submitted November 24, 2015
Published December 24, 2017

Year Enrolled in Program – 2015

How long did it take you to complete the program?  5 days

Certification or Certificate Offered – Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC)

Delivery of Program – In-person

Books & Materials Required – The Pocket Guide for Lactation Management by Karin Cadwell, 2nd edition (can be purchased on Amazon in various formats from about $30-40) or can be purchased in class for $55. A course guide with an outline of all instruction along with a resource appendix is free and included in course costs.

Cost of Program (Including books, materials, application fees, etc.) – $525-625 (discounts for early bird registration and groups of 4+). Additional costs include application and exam fees – $120 and 175 extra hours option (must be combined with full course and exam) – $350. See here for current pricing.

# of L-CERPs, Nursing Contact Hours, CEUs, CPEs, etc. offered – RNs: 45; RDs: 45; CLCs: 45 Contact Hours; IBCLCs: 45 L-CERPs; College Credits: 3, MCH 330

Do this program’s hours meet partial or full requirements for the IBCLC exam’s lactation specific training requirement?  Yes, partial (it fulfills 45 of the 90 hours required).

What did you like about the program?

• Well-organized.
• A lot of really interesting data was presented.
• It gave me a real understanding of lactation physiology and how that relates to the things nursing parents can do to increase the chances of establishing a long, healthy breastfeeding relationship with their baby or babies.
• It was fast-paced, but facilitators did a good job of answering questions.
• The manual given to students was well-formatted and well-designed. It left space to take notes on the right side of every page.
• The take-home review exercises were a fun way to consolidate the information learned each day.

What did you dislike about the program?

• The start time (8:15 am was brutal for me).
• Although data offered citations, it was generally the name of the researchers and publication information. It was often not clear what type of studies had been done, how large those studies were, and if results have been replicated…though the results were presented as facts.
• Some of the competencies necessary to display during the course involved activities assigned before the actual topic had been taught and discussed.
• Scope of practice of the CLC was not clearly defined.
• There was refusal to discuss the differences between CLC and IBCLC. (They literally said they could not tell us.) I felt this really minimized the substantial difference and is something that new CLCs need to understand.
• Part of the exam did not feel like a fair assessment of our knowledge. Everybody I have spoken with felt extremely unsure of how they did on that portion and passing it is required to pass the exam.
• I don’t like that it takes 6-8 weeks to get exam results and that they don’t give you more details about your score.

What would you change about the program?

• Increase and expand upon the focus on counseling skills.
• Although we did learn some basics, I felt a little short-changed in this area, considering the way Healthy Children describe the course. Incorporate more information about the origin of data.
• Define scope of practice more clearly.
• Restructure part of the exam and provide students with details about their score (in a timely fashion).

How rigorous/time consuming did you find the program?

Extremely rigorous. “Lactation bootcamp” would not be an understatement. There is a lot of information to absorb and activities to complete during those 5 days. I would find it impossible to work a full time job while taking this course (unless given the whole 5 days off) and, personally, would have found family responsibilities to be rather overwhelming to juggle during that time. My brain felt completely full by the end of the course each day and I could not have made it through the week without having quiet time to decompress each evening. (I was fortunate enough to stay in a nearby motel, so I could focus exclusively on the class). It really was like learning the material of a 3 credit course, condensed into 5 days.

Would you recommend this program to others?

It depends what your goals are. It is a solid, informative program. It is not meant to prepare you to deal with significant breastfeeding problems, but does provides a strong knowledge base about lactation.

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

Do you feel the course and/or certification helped you obtain your goals?

Absolutely. I am a doula and my goal in taking this course was to gain a strong knowledge base to draw from in helping my clients initiate and be successful in breastfeeding. That is the area in which this course really shines. I walked out of there with a much clearer understanding of the anatomy of lactation and what factors contribute to setting breastfeeding parents up for success.

Does your program/credential require you to recertify? If so, how long does the credential last and what is required to recertify? Yes, the CLC credential is good for 3 years. Recertification takes 18 hours of continuing education.

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 directly online via Google Forms here.

**Disclaimer – The views and opinions expressed in this review are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Galactablog. To the best of my knowledge, the information is accurate as of the date published, but it is up to the reader to do their due diligence and to confirm prices, required books, dates, number of CERPs offered, etc. It is 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 on Healthy Children’s Lactation Counselor Training Course, along with comparison of similar Lactation Training Programs. If you’re interested in Lactation Training Programs that offer a clinical practice component, see here.