Welcome to the Orange County Lactation Consultant Association
The Orange County Lactation Consultant Association is building this website. Please check out our Guide to Lactation Services for information on finding lactation consultants in hospitals and private practices. Also, for current and aspiring consultants, you will find membership forms to download in the links below.
Orange County Lactation Consultants Association - History of the Organization
In the spring of 1990, the Orange County lactation community was in its infancy. The field of lactation consultancy was gaining attention and a significant number of professionals were choosing to embark upon a journey that would allow them to dedicate themselves to promoting and supporting breastfeeding. With this in mind, it was clear that an organization dedicated to networking and providing education for this growing profession would be an important endeavor.
The first meeting of what would become the Orange County Lactation Consultants Association (OCLCA) was held in Irvine on a warm spring evening in 1990, with about a dozen interested women in attendance. We discussed our interest in meeting on a regular basis to share ideas, discuss our work, and, maybe, even reach out to the community to promote breastfeeding in a larger way.
Over the next several years the goal of the group was primarily to network with each other. We also contacted Orange County WIC, to see if we could collaborate with them to provide education in breastfeeding to their employees and, even develop a video on the benefits of breastfeeding to be used in their clinics. Unfortunately, this project never went very far. . .but it was a start. We distributed Public Service Announcement videos to the local cable television stations in the hopes that we would be able to encourage more women to breastfeed their babies.
When World Breastfeeding Week was instituted in 1992, of course, the OCLCA decided to plan several projects. The founder of the organization, Margie Deutsch Lash (then, just Margie Deutsch) wrote letters to every city in the county asking each city to pass a proclamation recognizing World Breastfeeding Week. Several cities did so. This was an exciting time!
The organization also held a World Breastfeeding Week celebration with a morning filled with activities aimed, primarily, at families in the community. The following year the celebration included sessions for professionals, as well as parents. It was a wonderful success.
In 1997 the OCLCA began producing and distributing a Lactation Consultants Guide that has been a wonderful way to market the lactation programs and services available throughout Orange County. This project has been under the direction of Jeannine Leaper, who continues tirelessly to make sure the guide is produced in a professional manner and finds its way to doctor�s offices, hospitals, and a variety of other appropriate locations, which have contact with new mothers.
Throughout, its history, the Orange County Lactation Consultants Association has provided education to its members. Presently, the organization has a membership of approximately 25 lactation professionals and continues to be an important place for lactation consultants to network and build their skills. Of course, the organization's goal is to support and guide breastfeeding families to provide the best possible start for their children.
To contact the organization, send an email.
Links
Membership invitation
When do you need a lactation consultant
Membership form
La Leche League
This page is maintained by Nanny Gortzak, IBCLC