06/10/2024

Find a Lactation Consultant

Directory to help you find a lactation consultant

In the canton of Geneva, lactation consultants work in a variety of settings (hospitals, maternity wards, neonatal units, etc.) as well as in private practice or by making home visits.

GIFA, with financial support from the canton of Geneva, has developed a Directory to help you find a lactation consultant according to certain criteria (language, location, additional specialisation, etc.). Please give us feedback on the use of this new directory at info@gifa.org

• Use the local Directory by GIFA
• Use the national Directory of BSS/ASCL

Definition of Lactation Consultant

Being a Lactation Consultant is a qualification that all healthcare professionals – and to some extent non-healthcare professionals too – can acquire. See below for courses and training.

Breastfeeding Consultation – a place where you can be heard

• It offers you individual support and follow-up tailored to your breastfeeding plans, whatever they may be.
• It provides information during pregnancy and accompanies you throughout breastfeeding, right up to weaning.
• She can be called on to help if you have problems with breastfeeding, or if your mother or child is ill, in collaboration with other health professionals.
• She can help you to continue breastfeeding when you return to work.

Reimbursement by health insurance

The Compulsory Health Insurance covers the costs of 3 sessions ‘provided they are given by a midwife or nurse who has undergone special training in this field’ (LAMal art. 29, al.2 – OPAS article 15). https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1995/4964_4964_4964/fr

• Number: formerly known as the ‘concordat number’, this is a contract number which enables a health professional’s services to be reimbursed by the Compulsory Health Insurance.
• For private practice breastfeeding consultations, some health insurance companies accept the IBCLC diploma for reimbursement purposes.

Training to become a Lactation Consultant – IBCLC, CAS, DIU, e-log

Healthcare professionals can acquire special training in the field of breastfeeding by following various courses of study:

• IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant), an international diploma which requires recertification every 5 years.
• Link to the IBCLC Code of Ethics (May 1, 2023) at https://ibclc-commission.org/ibclc-information/ see > Code of Profesional Conduct

• CAS (Certificate of Advanced Studies) en Allaitement Maternel et Lactation (Suisse) http://www.allaiter-institut.com/fr/qualification-ibclc.html

• DIU LHAM – Diplôme Universitaire Lactation Humaine et Allaitement Maternel (France)
  https://medecine.univ-lille.fr/fileufr3s/user_upload/ufr3s-formation-continue/medecine/du/du-lactation-humaine-allaitement-maternel.pdf
• Swiss Continuing Education System e-log allows to get credits to be qualified as “Lactation Consultant BSS/ASCL”.

Professional associations

• In Switzerland, the ASCL (Association suisse des consultant-e-s en lactation) manages the continuing education of its members via the e-log system https://e-log.ch, which allows points to be accumulated and the ASCL Lactation Consultant certificate to be acquired, provided that the member is a member.
• In France, the counterpart is the AFCL (Association française des consultant-e-s en lactation) https://www.consultants-lactation.org/
• ELACTA is the European association of IBCLCs https://www.elacta.eu/
• ILCA is the International Association of IBCLCs https://ilca.org/
• IBLCE is the Board of Examiners to become an IBCLC https://iblce.org/

(*) This text is written in the feminine because this is a profession practised mainly by women, but Lactation Consultant training is open to all health professionals, men and women: doctors, nurses, male midwives. – Conversely, masculine names also apply to women.

Photo Title © https://aurelielactation.fr/