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Training the next generation

As I look back on an almost 30 year career as a lactation consultant, I have witnessed a huge amount of change for the support of breastfeeding. It is heartening to see support from every corner; the federal, state and local governments, professional organizations, workplaces, and the Affordable Care Act. Even new mothers are better informed and more are choosing to breastfeed. But we still have a ways to go before we reach optimal breastfeeding nationwide.

There are pockets where breastfeeding rates are low and exclusive breastfeeding rates are even lower. Historically, areas that have the lowest rates are the US southeastern states. Also areas where African American, Hispanics and Native Americans live, rates are low.

Lactation Education Resources trains about 350 students to take the IBLCE certification exam each year. But we realize that often the areas that need it most do not have access to a certified lactation consultant. This year we have given four scholarships for our Enriched Lactation Consultant Training Program to individuals who indicated they intend to work in underserved areas once certified.

The winners of this year’s scholarships are:

  • Gloria Bauta, Miami, FL who will be providing low-cost lactation services to area mothers at MilkWorks

  • Jill Olds of Monroeville, PA who will be providing lactation services through her WIC clinic

  • Charlene Parrish of Whiteriver, AZ will be on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, Whiteriver, AZ

  • Chanel Porchia of Brooklyn, NY will continue to offer infant feeding classes and free/low cost lactation services in her area.

Best wishes to these four winners who will be part of the next generation of Lactation Consultants.

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About the author

Vergie Hughes

Vergie Hughes

Vergie Hughes has a long history of experience in Maternal Child Health including labor and delivery, post-partum and pediatrics, and for the past 25 years she has been involved in lactation management. Ms. Hughes has a BSN from Pacific Lutheran University and a MS from Georgetown University. She has been a board certified lactation consultant since 1985. At Georgetown University Hospital, she was the director of the Human Milk Bank. She created and developed the National Capitol Lactation Center and the one week Lactation Consultant Training Program. This course has trained more than 4,000 Lactation Consultants since its inception in 1990.


She has been a private practice lactation consultant and business owner, and operated her own lactation center, Washington’s Families First. Lactation Education Resources On-Line is her website, offering training to professionals and information to parents as well. Ms. Hughes has served on the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners and has served on the IBLCE exam writing committee. Her first love is teaching and that is exemplified by the creativity of the courses she has developed. A series of courses “The In-patient Breastfeeding Specialist,” "The Out-patient Breastfeeding Specialist” and “The NICU Breastfeeding Specialist” are all designed to advance the lactation management skills of nurses at the bedside. She regularly teaches skills to labor and delivery nurses and just recently developed the course “Towards Exclusive Breastfeeding.”


Ms. Hughes is the program director and content manager for all of the on-line Lactation Education Resources courses. Ms. Hughes was recently honored with a “lifetime achievement award” as Fellow of the International Lactation Consultant Association (FILCA).

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