Bill > S2152

Introduced Session

This bill which is designated the "Lactation Consultants Licensing Act," provides for the licensure of lactation consultants in this State. The bill establishes a seven-member Lactation Consultant Advisory Committee (hereinafter referred to as "the committee"), in the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, under the State Board of Medical Examiners, to consult with the board on the licensure of persons providing lactation care and services. The committee would consist of five licensed lactation consultants who have been actively engaged in providing lactation care and services in the State as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) for at least five years immediately preceding their appointment to the committee, one public member, appointed by the Governor, and one licensed physician. The members of the committee are to serve without compensation but be reimbursed for expenses and provided with office and meeting facilities. Under the provisions of the bill, "lactation care and services" means the clinical application of scientific principles and a multidisciplinary body of evidence to provide evaluation, problem identification, treatment, education and consultation regarding breastfeeding and breast milk feeding to client-defined families, and "breastfeeding education and support services" means activities whose purpose is to educate and support mothers and children in meeting their breastfeeding goals including providing general breastfeeding education and encouragement, sharing personal experiences, and giving nonmedical advice. The bill requires an applicant for licensure as a lactation consultant to be at least 21 years old, of good moral character, and to fulfill the following requirements: meet the international education and clinical standards established for IBCLCs by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE) or other equivalent educational and clinical prerequisites as approved by the committee; and provide proof of successful completion of the IBLCE examination or other equivalent examination as approved by the committee. The bill prohibits any person from providing lactation care and services in this State on either a compensated or uncompensated basis, holding themselves out to the public as being authorized to provide lactation care or services, or use any title or description stating or implying that the person is a lactation consultant licensed to provide lactation care and services unless that person holds a valid license. The provisions of the bill do not prohibit persons licensed to practice under any law or who are accredited members or volunteers of another profession or occupation from providing breastfeeding education and support services for which the person is licensed, regulated, accredited, or certified; students enrolled in a school or post-graduate course of lactation care and services, recognized by the committee, or who are enrolled in a lactation consultant credentialing pathway, approved by the committee, from performing activities necessary to the student's course of study; a peer counselor within the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) from providing services that are within the counselor's scope of practice; nonresident IBCLCs with a certificate from the IBLCE from providing lactation care and services in this State for up to five days per calendar year without licensure or up to 30 days per calendar year with licensure from another state if the requirements for licensure in that other state are substantially equal to the requirements contained in the bill, as determined by the committee; and a medical student, medical resident, or nursing student from providing breastfeeding education and support services which are necessary to the student's course of study. The bill provides for the licensure, without examination, of lactation consultants who have been licensed or registered in another state with standards substantially equivalent to those of this State.

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Joe Vitale (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee (on 03/16/2020)

Official Document