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Growing the IBCLC workforce: A Florida needs assessment
Methods: An online survey completed by 1,991 individuals assessed the interest of individuals in Florida to become IBCLCs, and the type of program that would be most appealing. We conducted 10 semi-structured interviews with administrators from hospitals, pediatric practices serving large Medicaid populations, and non-profit community-based MCH organizations.
Results: Of survey participants, 61% said that they would be very interested or interested in completing an IBCLC training program. The interviews showed that while there are barriers to hiring IBCLCs in the current economic climate, there is a clear need: 9 of the 10 interviewees described a desire for additional IBCLCs in their organizations.
Conclusions: There exists an unmet and growing need for professional breastfeeding support in Florida. Because of the high level of interest in an academic IBCLC training program (only 4 programs exist in the U.S. currently), breastfeeding support can be increased by creating opportunities for IBCLC training and funding positions for IBCLCs in diverse healthcare organizations.
Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practiceDiversity and culture
Other professions or practice related to public health
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related education
Learning Objectives:
Describe the need and demand for professional breastfeeding support among medically underserved populations.
Demonstrate the demand for academic IBCLC training programs.
Assess strategies to meet the need for training IBCLCs.
Keyword(s): Breastfeeding, Workforce
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the principal or co-principal of several breastfeeding-related research studies, focusing on professional breastfeeding support. I designed and implemented the needs assessment presented in this abstract.
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes
Name of Organization | Clinical/Research Area | Type of relationship |
---|---|---|
Intarnational Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners | breastfeeding | Advisory Committee/Board |
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.