Communication Skills for the Lactation Support Provider

Meet the 5-hour IBLCE exam requirement while you gain powerful skills for communicating about lactation-specific issues.

This course offers the wisdom of four veteran lactation care providers intimately familiar with the communication scenarios you will face every day, providing you with the ability to easily assess the effectiveness of your communication and the tools to level it up.

Taught in four parts, the course involves lectures on specific communications challenges as well as opportunities to test your knowledge and apply communications skills to common situations you will encounter again and again in practice.

Included in this course:

Translating the Science of Breastfeeding. Learn practical tips and unforgettable analogies for explaining lactation science so parents can understand, remember, and apply your advice. Instructor Peg Merrill, BS, IBCLC, has been a lactation support provider for more than 40 years, serving in private practice and in hospitals. She has also been a WIC nutritionist, a childbirth educator, and more.

PTSD for NICU Parents. Shares how to offer the compassionate, insightful communication critical for families whose baby is or has been in the NICU. Instructors: Valerie Goodman, RN, IBCLC has been serving NICU families for more than 15 years at the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital and teaches The Science of Infant Feeding at the University of Virginia School of Nursing. Angela Love-Zaranka, BA, IBCLC, RLC, is Program Director at LER and has served as an IBCLC in private practice and as the creator and manager of a hospital lactation department.

Communicating with Parents. Years later, parents still remember specific words said to them when they were learning to breastfeed. Learn how to communicate with clarity and empathy–prenatally, during each trimester, and with new parents. Instructor Angela Love-Zaranka, BA, IBCLC, RLC, Program Director at LER, brings her unique insight and years of experience to this course.

Mentoring the Next Generation. Addresses how to be an effective teacher and coach when you are overseeing an internship for an aspiring IBCLC. Learn how from Vergie Hughes, RN, MS, IBCLC, FILCA and Amy Black, BS, IBCLC, Clinical Internship Program Director at LER.