Elizabeth C. Brooks, JD, IBCLC (LLC)

05/14/2026

Whoo Hoo the ILCA position paper on role and impact of the IBCLC is now open access! Thank you!!

Why IBCLCs Matter 💜 The Role and Impact of IBCLCs

IBCLCs are internationally credentialed lactation experts who play a key role in supporting breastfeeding families through counseling, clinical expertise, education, and advocacy to optimize infant feeding practices and maternal-child health outcomes. IBCLCs must meet stringent eligibility criteria, including completing lactation and health science education, clinical hours, and passing a comprehensive examination.

🔹 Improved breastfeeding outcomes. IBCLCs have a positive impact on breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity.
🔹 Healthcare cost savings. The integration of IBCLC services has been shown to lower healthcare expenditures by reducing costly infant conditions.
🔹 Equity and access. Services provided by IBCLCs help close access gaps, especially among underserved populations.

Find more details and extensive references in the full paper here, now available in open access 👉 https://doi.org/10.1177/08903344261434475

Ahmed, A. H., Rojjanasrirat, W., Malik, S., Mandell, L., Ansell, M., & Zakarija-Grković, I. (2026). The Role and Impact of the IBCLC: Updated Position Paper. Journal of human lactation : official journal of International Lactation Consultant Association, 8903344261434475. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/08903344261434475.

04/29/2026

NO WAY IT'S ABOUT TIME!

"The Role and Impact of the IBCLC: Updated Position Paper" from ILCA was just published (24 April 2026) as an "Online First" article from JHL.

The original was issued in 2011 and I think I may be weeping tears of joy that the professional association FOR IBCLCs has seen fit, 15 years later, to update an evidence-based advocacy article ABOUT IBCLCs.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08903344261434475

04/25/2026

How cool is the Philadelphia Maternity Care Coalition? This vending machine offers FREE childcare/women's health products. It is in the lobby of Temple's Women and Families Hospital, a Baby-Friendly birthing facility that also has obstetric and pediatric care offices in the same building. In the lobby: the WIC office. WHY AREN'T ALL BIRTHING HOSPITALS LIKE THIS? On 28 April 2026 I will be on-line with MCC's Doula Professional Development series ("Do Lactation and Booze or Cannabis Mix? The Ethics of Consults with parents Who Party"). Last week 23 April 2026 I was with the good folx at LLL-CT at their Healthcare Provider Seminar ("Ethics Pulse Check! The Crossroads of the International Code, Racism-based Health Disparities, and Lactation Support").

04/04/2026

Going live in Reading!, PA 7 April 2026 it is "Dazed and Confused After Discharge: Breastfeeding Support is Different Once Families Go Home," my closer at the Tower Health-Reading Hospital Maternal Child Health Conference. IYKYK! Bottom line: Days 0-3 sets the tone for months and years of happy lactation and better health. Bad news: It doesn't take much to mess things up and derail a family's infant feeding goals. Good news: It is easy peasy to Do Better with continuity of care from hospital-to-home.

12/11/2025

Tomorrow (12 Dec 2025) I present at a hybrid in person-online event, hosted by the non-profit Breastfeeding Resource Center and La Leache League.

My topics will be timely and relevant given creation of a new certificated program for lactation support: "Who Wears the Top Hat Under the Big Tent? Law, Ethics, and Scope of Practice for Different Lactation Support Providers" [and] "Do Lactation and Booze or Cannabis Mix? The Ethics of Consults with Parents Who Party."

Let's be stronger together!

12/09/2025

Y'all know what "the second credential" is? Well, it is here. A full 20 years after I first paid much attention to the notion. Edited to be clear: Let me state (once I am done banging my head against the wall) that I do NOT support this idea.

When I entered international leadership in 2005 as Secretary to the ILCA Board, the plans of IBLCE to create a "second credential" were already heatedly debated. Why was the credentialing organization going to create and promote a Something Else when there was so little known and understood about IBCLCs? Why dilute the market with another certificate-awarding program? Why not concentrate on marketing and promoting the IBCLC?

Teeth were gnashed, posts were made, meetings were held, lines-in-the-sand were drawn. Over the years, IBLCE several times receded from but never officially buried their plans to come up with another credential to be awarded by IBLCE. It will give you a headache to follow the governance, but IBLCE through its "affiliate" Global Centre for Lactation Education is now marketing the "Certificate in Lactation Facilitation." We gonna call this one the CLF? No idea. It joins the pre-existing alphabet soup of about two dozen differently-labelled lactation support providers.

Now, understand IBLCE/GCLT have every legal right (and, ahem, commercial incentive) to do this. But I wonder what difference it will make in the lives of the families who need culturally congruent lactation care around the world.

Menu Current Offerings Contact About Certificate in Lactation Facilitation™ Frequently Asked Questions Registration Now Open! Families deserve accessible, high-quality lactation support that empowe…

10/06/2025

What could be better than driving the scenic route along Lake Superior during Autumn colors? Why, speaking at the Minnesota Breastfeeding Coalition Conference in Duluth, MN on Oct 10&11, that's what! Attendees will earn all five of their required E-CERPs from my sessions ... including those elusive 2 now required on the WHO Code.

2025 Annual Conference Prioritizing Lactation Care:Ethical, Sustainable, Supported Register now! Friday and SaturdayOctober 10-11, 2025Duluth Entertainment Convention Center350 Harbor DriveDuluth, Minnesota 55802 Conference registration Exhibitor and sponsorship information Download the flyer Presen...

09/14/2025

A stellar list of editors and chapter authors. Free to download publication from the Natl Academy of Sciences "Breastfeeding in the United States: Strategies to Support Families and Achieve National goals." H/T to whomever posted this link elsewhere on FB; I've lost that post!

Read online, download a free PDF, or order a copy in print.

08/19/2025

Heading up the Turnpike to Secaucus NJ to give a talk that awards those 2 elusive E-CERPs on the WHO Code: "Unravel Conflict-of-Interest with the International [WHO] Code: How Predatory Marketing Plays With Our Minds." Happy to see (and hear!) some fabulous IBCLC colleagues, too

Learn about our Strategies in Lactation Support event. This program provides education and resources for professionals supporting breastfeeding families.

04/16/2025

***April 17 update: link to register for webinar of this talk should now be fixed.***

I am teaming up with the PA chapter of AAP to offer an E-CERPs talk at five of their Spring Collaborative Meetings over the next several weeks: “Do Lactation and Booze or Cannabis Mix? The Ethics of Consults with Parents Who Party.” A popular topic cuz humans have been sipping alcoholic beverages for 9000+ years!

PA First Food is a statewide collaborative of organizations that support breastfeeding families. We offer events, resources, and support to help you provide the best possible nutrition for your child.

02/21/2025

I just GROAN at the "beer-bonging" of infants in the earliest days. Gasp! Whatever do I mean?

Let me explain. Released today 2/20/2025 but dated October 2024, the Academy of BFg Medicine has a position statement designed to support exclusive BFg by avoiding over/underfeeding. It also strongly urges that hospitals use human milk for the "bridge loans" when supplementation is needed. Hooray for that, but the key is that ANY supplementation should AVOID overfeeding.

Y'all know that supplementing with TOO MUCH (of anything) has been my clarion call for years. This paper offers support for avoiding too much too soon into baby tummies:

"Most of the use of commercial milk formula is not medically necessary, exposing the infant to increased risk of disease and overfeeding."

"Instead, ensuring access to professional support and management with breastfeeding, especially when there are concerns for lower milk production, and using donor milk as a bridge are options to preserve an exclusively human milk diet."

"If supplementation is recommended, we recommend the following in order of preference: expressed MOM, donor human milk, commercial milk formula. The volume of supplementation should match the approximate volume required by the infant, and care should be taken to avoid overfeeding " [citing to ABM Protocol 3 on supplementary feeding]

I love the language in this critical paragraph:
"In contrast to underfeeding, a more common occurrence is unnecessary supplementation that leads to overfeeding. Supplementation is often a sign of lactation difficulty, such as poor latching that results in pain or poor milk transfer that can be resolved with breastfeeding support and skilled management. When birthing practices are supportive, and optimal support of breastfeeding is implemented, there is usually no need for supplementation. With every feeding cue, the infant is offered the breast, which maximizes intake and provides a signal to program milk supply to meet the demand of the infant. *****The use of supplementation in the well-nourished exclusively breastfeeding newborn disrupts the elegant, physiological supply and demand system.***** Many infants are overfed by supplementing with commercial milk formula. Unnecessary supplementation interferes with milk production and normal feeding patterns, and thereby carries a great risk of premature weaning. It is well established that feeding commercial milk formula without a medical indication is the most common reason parents fail to meet their own breastfeeding goals." [emphasis mine]