Thank you all for your support. Ultimately we collected over 750 signatures. Here is the written response from IBLCE:
Dear Ms. Heise:
The International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners® (IBLCE®) is in receipt of your email of October 12 regarding the petition related to the IBCLC Retired Status and thanks you for the same. We appreciate your patience as we reviewed your concerns in detail to be able to respond in as comprehensive a manner as feasible at this time. Please know we have brought your concerns to the leadership of IBLCE.
The development of the Retired Status opportunity was preceded by significant discussion by IBCLC Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) on the Certification Committee (prior to the transition to the Commission structure) over the course of many months. The committee discussed many details and considerations regarding the use and limitations of such a status within the IBCLC community. Further, IBLCE held focus group interviews with several longstanding IBCLCs to inform the development of this status.
In addition, the committee also considered benchmarking data from other healthcare certification programs that offer a retired or emeritus status.
The IBCLC Retired Status is not a credential as the IBCLC is. Instead, it is a status designation that allows retired IBCLCs to stay connected to IBLCE and to recognise years of past service as an IBCLC.
The intention of this status is one of recognition and is for those who are no longer actively practising as an IBCLC and do not intend to return to practice. Because this is a status designation and not a credential, it is non-renewable.
To date, 178 individuals have formally availed themselves of this status with others having expressed interest in Retired Status. The IBCLC is a clinical certification. An individual may also choose to maintain an active IBCLC credential and 250 hours of active clinical practice is required but please note that this is defined as 250 hours in lactation consulting can be full- or part-time, volunteer or paid, or a combination of both. Here some examples:
1. In-person, telephone, or online breastfeeding and lactation care to breastfeeding families. Visit the IBLCE Advisory Opinion on Telehealth for additional information on online care.
2. Breastfeeding and lactation education to breastfeeding families, the public, and professionals.
3. Administrative and supervisory work as an IBCLC in the areas of breastfeeding and lactation.Letter to Ms. Heise
4. Paid or volunteer breastfeeding care at a Recognised Breastfeeding Support Counsellor Organisation.
5. Volunteer participation on a committee or board of an organisation that promotes and/or supports breastfeeding.
6. Speaker for a lactation educational activity.
7. Participation on an editorial board for a lactation or breastfeeding related journal or publication.
8. Research regarding lactation.
9. Developing breastfeeding policy in healthcare.
10. Publishing evidence-based information about human lactation and breastfeeding.
https://ibclc-commission.org/faqs-for-recertification/#Clinical-Practice
Thus, an individual may choose to maintain the IBCLC or may choose Retired Status, whatever works best with respect to their professional and personal goals.
We have tried to address in this response the issues you have raised and hope that our response provides you an enhanced understanding of the situation with respect to the Retired Status.
Thank you for writing to IBLCE and providing us the opportunity to provide further information and address the concerns you have raised and thank you for your work on behalf of maternal and child health.
Warmest Regards,
Brooke Gilliam, BSN, RN,IBCLC
Chair of the Board of Directors
Sara Blair Lake, J.D., CAE
Chief Executive Officer