Thank you for your interest in getting involved with Mother and Infant Lactation Care at the Women’s Birth and Wellness Center.
We welcome individuals interested in clinical shadowing. Clinical shadowing involves spending a full day with one of our board-certified lactation consultants and observing LC visits (with the consent of the patient).
While we are happy to offer this service, we also recognize that we need to balance the extra time and energy needed to coordinate and host clinical shadowing with our other program needs. We ask that individuals interested in clinical shadowing go through the following process:
1. Attend a tour of the birth center to become familiar with its philosophy and services. Tours are offered regularly and can be scheduled by calling (919) 933-3301.
2. Once you have attended a tour, complete the attached form and return it to the MILC coordinator at [email protected].
3. Once the MILC coordinator has reviewed your forms, she will contact you to set up 6 hours of volunteer time with WBWC. Volunteer tasks are mostly clerical, and MILC may have special projects that also need volunteer time (for example, revising patient handouts on various breastfeeding topics, doing community outreach, etc.) If we have a project available that you are particularly excited about, we welcome additional volunteer hours!
4. Once volunteer hours are completed, the MILC coordinator will set up a clinical shadowing day. These days are typically 8:30am – 5:30 pm. You are also welcome to observe our breastfeeding and pumping classes, which are 2-hour classes offered regularly on Thursday evenings.
If you are interested in learning more about the process of becoming a lactation consultant, visit the IBLCE website to understand the various educational pathways: http://iblce.org/certify/pathways/
A Pathway 2 program is offered locally through UNC-Chapel Hill: http://cgbi.sph.unc.edu/what-we- do/education-and-conferences/mrtti/
Best,
Rebecca Costello
Coordinator of Lactation Services
Mother and Infant Lactation Care at the Women’s Birth and Wellness Center