LEAARC (Lactation Education Accreditation and Approval Review Committee)

Description

LEAARC works to ensure that g lobal access to consistent foundational and continuing professional lactation education is available to all. As on organization, we provide support to lactation and breastfeeding courses, clinical programs and IBLCE Pathway 2 programs to ensure that the quality of education curriculum. Our board members work in tandem, in a remote and international environment, to review programs and forward the field of lactation education.

LEAARC history: The lactation consultant profession began in 1985 with the formation of the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) and the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners(r) (IBLCE(r)). For over two decades, these two organizations guided the development of professional and ethical standards, a scope of practice, clinical competencies, and a core curriculum. In 2008, with an eye toward establishing standards in lactation consultant education, ILCA and IBLCE collaborated to establish and sponsor the Lactation Education Accreditation and Approval Review Committee (LEAARC). As the third pillar of the profession, LEAARC formed as a non-profit organization with a goal to establish standards for and recognize quality in lactation education worldwide. LEAARC promotes the establishment of a structured, competency-based didactic standard that reflects the profession’s core curriculum. LEAARC reviews and recognizes didactic courses as well as accredited lactation programs in postsecondary institutions.