Need Lactation Education?

Lactation College Can Help

We provide educational practice exams and other courses which offer CERPs, CEUs, and CMEs.

Come Learn With Us

FIND A PRACTICE EXAM OR COURSE TODAY!

Check out our courses and get started!

Practice Exam #1: General Knowledge

Studying for the IBCLC exam? Research shows that practice exams are a great way to prepare for real exams. They support the student in retrieving information they know, and help the learner identify areas which they don't fully understand. This quiz has 50 questions, some including photographs, and students will get full explanations of all incorrect answers. While the quiz is a great educational tool, educational credits are not provided.

TAKE THIS QUIZ

Practice Exam #2: Maternal Breastfeeding-Related Issues

Studying for the IBCLC exam?  Research shows that practice exams are a great way to prepare for real exams.  They support the student in retrieving information they know and help the learner identify areas which they don't fully understand.  This quiz has 50 maternal breastfeeding-related questions, some including photographs, and students will get full explanations of all incorrect answers.  While the quiz is a great educational tool, educational credits are not provided.

TAKE THIS QUIZ

Practice Exam #3: Infant Physical Examination

Learn about common newborn physical examination findings by taking this 50-question quiz. First take the exam, then click submit, and you will receive your score and the correct answer to each question with an explanation containing important facts about the topic.

Take This Quiz

Practice Exam #4: Statistics, Research and Communication

This quiz has 50 questions, on some of the topics that are likely to be included on the IBCLC Exam.  Students will get full explanations of all incorrect answers. While the quiz is a great educational tool, educational credits are not provided for Practice Exams.

TAKE THIS QUIZ

Milk Banking: What Is It? Why Use It?

Naomi Bar-Yam reviews the history of wet-nursing to milk banking, the benefits of pasteurized donor human milk, and the processes involved in providing safe human milk for infants. 

Credit Information: 1 L-CERP
IBLCE Detailed Content Outline: I. Development and Nutrition
CLC Credits: 1 (This course qualifies as 1 Credit under ALPP CLC re-certification rules.) 
CEUs (Nursing Contact Hours): 1

TAKE THIS COURSE

Ten Tips on the Ten Steps: Baby-Friendly Highlights for Travelers

Review the basic requirements of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, and receive a certficate of completion.

Credit Information:  1 CEU (Nursing Education)

TAKE THIS COURSE
Medications & Human Milk

Medications & Human Milk

Understand lactational pharmacology and how to evaluate medication safety for breastfeeding families

Instructor: Mary Foley, RN, BSN, IBCLC

Credit Information: 1 L-CERP, Detailed Content Outline: IV. Pharmacology and Toxicology, 1 CLC, 1 CEU (Nursing Education), 1 CME (Provider Education)

TAKE THIS COURSE

Human Milk Composition

Dive into the makeup of human milk, from carbohydrates to fats to proteins, minerals, vitamins and other special components

Instructor: Barbara L. Philipp, MD, FAAP, FABM

Credit Information: 1 L-CERP, Detailed Content Outline: I. Development and Nutrition, 1 CLC, 1 CEU (Nursing Education), 1 CME (Provider Education)

TAKE THIS COURSE

Communication: Having Meaningful Conversations

Review the pathways and common barriers to communication, and learn how to improve your listening and conversational skills

Instructor: Mary Foley, RN, BSN, IBCLC

Credit Information: 1 R-CERP, Detailed Content Outline: VII. Clinical Skills, 1 CLC, 1 CEU (Nursing Education), 1 CME (Provider Education)

TAKE THIS COURSE

Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders

This review of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders provides a better understanding of common mental health complications associated with pregnancy and birth and how to best address them.

Instructor: Michelle Visser, LMHC, CEIS

Credit Information: 1 L-CERP, Detailed Content Outline: V. Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology, 1 CLC, 1 CEU (Nursing Education), 1 CME (Provider Education)

TAKE THIS COURSE

Seeing Yellow: Understanding Hyperbilirubinemia

This goal of this review is to help you understand bilirubin, causes of high bilirubin levels in the newborn and how to treat it.

Instructor: Barbara L. Philipp, MD, FAAP, FABM

Credit Information: 1 L-CERP, Detailed Content Outline: III. Pathology, 1 CLC, 1 CEU (Nursing Education), 1 CME (Provider Education)

TAKE THIS COURSE

Baby-Friendly and the Code

Learn about the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and the Code. Dr. Philipp shares practical tips that can be used to elicit change in the hospital setting.

Instructor: Barbara L. Philipp, MD, FAAP, FABM

Credit Information: 1 L-CERP, Detailed Content Outline: VII. Clinical Skills, 1 CLC, 1 CEU (Nursing Education), 1 CME (Provider Education)

TAKE THIS COURSE

Twenty Years Baby-Friendly: Personal Reflections on Change

Dr. Philipp reviews policy changes and new programs implemented over twenty years since her hospital’s Baby-Friendly designation. As she says, “Cut a cake and celebrate.”

Instructor: Barbara L. Philipp, MD, FAAP, FABM

Credit Information: 1 L-CERP, Detailed Content Outline: VII. Clinical Skills, 1 CLC, 1 CEU (Nursing Education), 1 CME (Provider Education)

TAKE THIS COURSE

Ethics in Lactation Care

Learn ethical principles and common challenges faced by lactation care specialists. Learn about misfeasance, malfeasance and more. Course concludes with a discussion between two IBCLCs on how to handle some ethical dilemmas.

Instructor: Mary Foley, RN, BSN, IBCLC

Credit Information: 1 E-CERP, Detailed Content Outline: VII. Clinical Skills / Ethical and Legal Issues, 1 CLC, 1 CEU (Nursing Education), 1 CME (Provider Education)

TAKE THIS COURSE

Infant Formula Recall and Crisis: What’s the Scoop and Who’s to Blame?

Dive into the bacteria, Cronobacter sakazakii, and the problems it causes if it finds its way into powder infant formula. Learn why a recall at one manufacturing plant in Michigan led to a nationwide shortage of infant formula and why the crisis disproportionately impacted poor and Black families.

Instructor: Barbara L. Philipp, MD, FAAP, FABM

Credit Information: 1 E-CERP, Detailed Content Outline: VII. Clinical Skills, 1 CLC, 1 CEU (Nursing Education), 1 CME (Provider Education)

TAKE THIS COURSE

Baby Café USA

This course will help you learn all about the Baby Café model.

Instructor: Lucia Jenkins, Executive Director of Baby Café USA

Credit Information: 1 L-CERP, Detailed Content Outline: V. Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology, 1 CLC, 1 CEU (Nursing Education), 1 CME (Provider Education)

TAKE THIS COURSE

Skin-to-Skin Contact: The First Hour and Beyond

Learn about the basics of skin-to-skin contact after birth, the benefits and how to practice it safely.

Instructor: Mary Foley, RN, BSN, IBCLC

Credit Information: 1 L-CERP, Detailed Content Outline: VI. Techniques, 1 CLC, 1 CEU (Nursing Education), 1 CME (Provider Education)

TAKE THIS COURSE

Meet the Founders

Barbara L. Philipp, MD, FAAP, FABM is Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine and a Hospitalist in the Division of Newborn Medicine at Boston Medical Center. She is an award- winning educator and passionate breastfeeding advocate.

Mary Foley, RN, BSN, IBCLC is a registered nurse and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant working in both hospital-based and private practice settings. She is a breastfeeding champion, an in-demand clinician and a sought-after teacher.

How Lactation College Started

Dr. Barbara Philipp started the Lactation College newsletters in January, 2021. Dr. Philipp is a passionate breastfeeding advocate who has committed her 40-year career to advancing the interests of the breastfeeding community through her teaching and public education.

Working as a pediatrician in an urban setting, Dr. Philipp became increasingly aware, not only of the disparities related to breastfeeding initiation and duration rates, but of the disparities in the field of lactation itself. Her vision was to create a newsletter that would take important and sometimes complicated topics related to breastfeeding, break them down into understandable, easy-to-remember lessons with key points, and make them available to learners around the globe. And what if it was free?

Using the online platform, Substack, Dr. Philipp began her breastfeeding lessons. Though unsure how many people would be interested, within the first year Lactation College went viral. Two years later, the Lactation College on Substack has almost 7,000 subscribers.

In 2022, Dr. Philipp further envisioned a platform where she could take her down-to-earth teaching style to the next level, and offer courses for educational credits. She partnered with her long-time friend and colleague, Mary Foley, a registered nurse and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. A breastfeeding advocate herself for over 30 years, Mary shared the vision of bringing breastfeeding education to the health care community and was delighted to join Dr. Philipp in this venture.

And here we are!

We hope you find this site useful. Our goal is to advance the education and training of lactation consultants, nurses, physicians and other health care providers in order to enhance the delivery of lactation care in the communities where we live and work. Our aim is to keep this education affordable so that all families can benefit.

As part of this mission, we will dedicate a portion of the proceeds of this site toward the continuation of the free Lactation College newsletters. Your participation in these courses helps us with this goal.

Welcome. We're glad you are here.

Join Lactation College on Substack.  It's free! 

 

If you’re interested in lactation training, this site is for you! These “classes", in the form of newsletters, are posted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in both English and Spanish. Subscribe for free today!

FIND US ON SUBSTACK