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Praise for Professional Education in Breastfeeding & Lactation
I began my career as a Licensed Midwife, graduating from Seattle Midwifery School in 1992. After my second daughter was born, I wanted to continue working with moms and babies, but with a more flexible and lighter schedule than being a midwife. Because I had always loved postpartum care and breastfeeding help, and because I had such essential help from a lactation consultant myself with my girls, I decided to specialize in lactation. I had taken the Professional Education in Breastfeeding & Lactation (PEBL) with Molly Pessl in 1993, and it was the foundation of the breastfeeding part of my midwifery practice for many years.
When I began working toward becoming an IBCLC in spring of 2005, taking the course again was invaluable. After the six days, I felt very confident and ready, both for the certifying board exam and for practice. Since passing the IBCLC exam in July 2005, I have had a successful and very satisfying home visit lactation practice, with regular referrals from midwives, pediatricians, and obstetricians. I also receive referrals from our county health department WIC, and am reimbursed by them for doing home lactation consultations for their clients. In addition, I teach breastfeeding classes and will be designing and teaching a course in breastfeeding for midwifery students at Seattle Midwifery School this spring.
The PEBL course gave me what good trainings should give you: both a solid and broad coverage of the current literature for evidence-based practice, and enough understanding of general principles to be able to respond creatively and appropriately to individual families' needs. I also gained confidence in my understanding of the many facets of breastfeeding and my ability to offer useful help to almost any family who calls on me. It's a great feeling to help a family learn how to nourish their baby in the most healthy way possible, and in a way that is comfortable and satisfying for mom. The PEBL is the cornerstone of my lactation education and I highly recommend it!
"This course should be a requirement for anyone working with breastfeeding families. the information provided is research based. Molly Pessl and Marie Witherell share their abundant experiences and give great advice on empowering mothers and advocating for babies. Thank you!"Robin Becker, RN
Tillamook, OR
"It really is the gold standard for birth and postpartum doulas. I would take it again just to stay on top of the ever-updated information. Molly and Ginna together are super. A lot of it is about the normal ups and downs of breast feeding, and that is well within scope of the birth and postpartum doula. However, I now know better how to recognize and when to refer for out of my scope issues such as abnormal suck, low milk, physical issues etc... It helped me clarify my scope and feel more confident about my skills. I also feel strongly that a birth doula should be doing an early home visit in the first 3 or 4 days, to fill in the huge gap of care that exists with many hospital births. Very often hospitals will send women home without being able to latch their baby on by themselves, and that is where the doula fits in. Especially if they have already been there to assist with or at least witness how nursing started. Continuity of care. . .and not to mention that DONA now has the breast feeding requirement for its certification process, so that is also an incentive. The course is becoming known in doula circles as 'the 6 day course'--the best training to take."
Alyssa Wehrman CD DONA
Seattle, WA
