Abstract
Dear Editor:
Thank you for the timely and important article originally published with the title, “Management of Cannabis Use in Breastfeeding Women: The Untapped Potential of Certified Lactation Consultants” by Skelton et al.1,2 There appears to be some confusion regarding the credentials mentioned in the article. The “IBCLC” credential was abbreviated to CLC® that is a proprietary credential that stands for Certified Lactation Counselor, not consultant. The International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and CLC are two significantly different credentials. Referring to the IBCLC as a CLC is incorrect, misleading, and could lead to misunderstanding within the medical community and the general public. The two credentials are not equivalent. I would respectfully request that the article in its digital and eventual printed form be corrected such that readers will understand that it is the IBCLC to which the article refers. The clinical competencies between the two credentials are vastly different. 3
The IBCLC is required to have accrued many hours of supervised clinical practice, whereas the CLC requires none. Lactation counselors, peer counselors, and educators are all important to breastfeeding families, but their abbreviated training programs, no college level health science courses, and lack of clinical management training cannot substitute for the extensive preparation necessary to hold the IBCLC credential. The way the article reads right now, it states that someone with 4 or 5 days of attending lectures on breastfeeding can assume the duties of someone who has 90 hours of lactation-specific education, 14 college level health science courses, and 300–1,000 hours of supervised clinical practice. Even a nurse's aid has more training than a lactation counselor.
The article refers to a study by Patel and Patel 4 by stating that “Women who use CLCs have significantly higher rates of exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months and breastfeeding at 12 months.” In fact, the Patel and Patel article is a review article in which none of the studies actually included those with the specific CLC credential. 5 Again, this is an incorrect reference and statement. This sentence either needs to be eliminated or corrected.
Please endeavor to correct this glaring error so that readers are not misled into thinking that the IBCLC and CLC are equivalent credentials. Breastfeeding families require the correct level of care, especially as acuity increases and more complex health issues arise, such as those that surface with the use of cannabis during lactation.