Education Requirements

What professional education in lactation must I undertake?

You must have completed and documented a minimum of 45 hours of continuing education in lactation reflecting the exam blueprint, within the five years immediately prior to applying for the exam. You may wish to undertake your formal study up to the exam day but to be eligible to sit the exam you must have completed a minimum of 45 hrs at the time of application. IBLCE strongly recommends that all candidates undertake a comprehensive education course, to ensure that each discipline is studied to the depth and breath that is required to be a competent clinician.

If you will be doing the exam in a language other than English, you must have completed a minimum of 60 hours of professional education in lactation. (This is because the body of literature on breastfeeding and lactation is predominately in English. Candidates who are not able to study these materials in their primary language have been shown to need significantly more pre exam education hours to achieve a similar standard of exam performance).

Eligibility requirements MUST be completed at time of application

Can I include private study in my hours?

Private study is a major component of exam preparation for all candidates, but private study is not counted in the 45 hours (or 60hrs) and no documentation is required.