Chennai: “Lactating mothers should not intake caffeine that causes dysentery in the child.” This was ‘advice’ from a ‘fake’ lactation counsellor on her YouTube channel that enraged certified practitioners and lactating mothers. With free access to social media, it is evident that the problem of misinformation is inevitable and innocent women fall into the trap.
Going a step ahead, the presenter went on to promote packaged food and introducing it to the child at a tender age that went against norms prescribed by experts. Although it is not a one-off incident, the repercussion is not and has ripple effect.
Taking a note of the myths and incorrect information propagated on social media, UCSD Certified Lactation Educator Counselor (CLEC) Swati Jagdish said, “The problems surrounding breastfeeding is aplenty and coupled with this is the ignorance of mothers who are unaware of them and feeding the newborn. Many such people take to social media to propagate information with the tag of ‘International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)’.”
Fret not – it is easy to identify the ‘fake’ ones from the actual practitioners. “When one wants to verify the authenticity, they can just run a check with the registration number on the public registry provided on the official website. If the results do not show, the answer is simple,” adds Swati.
This Breastfeeding Week experts voice out their concerns over the rise of such ‘consultants’ who self-tag themselves just with basic resources provided on online courses that are provided free of cost. Given that, there is an urge to verify the authentic practitioners.
Sailakshmi, a social worker and a mother, is one such social media user who has come across a lot of resources spreading misinformation.
“People these days do not validate the information they come across and they believe anything that is spread on WhatsApp or other social media, pamphlets that come along with newspaper and advertisements at large. Adding to it is the promotion or endorsement of products through digital platforms by influencers,” said Sailakshmi.
Asked about how she validates the information she comes across, she adds, “I reach out to either of the two pediatricians I consult and also seek help from ‘Breastfeeding Support for Indian Mothers’, a Facebook group that has experts as members, works based on the evidences gathered and has scientifically-backed articles to fact-check an information.”
| KNOW YOUR EXPERT |
| * The highest recognition that a lactation counsellor can get is IBCLC and should have completed 90 hours of lactation education and specified hours of counselling.
“To get the certification, people from non-medico background should complete the 14 courses listed in it and for Indians, we have to rely on online resources. To train the Indians, Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) offers the course and provides certification,” stated Swati Jagdish. Additionally, there are other certified lactation counselling courses provided by international universities. * “Certified Lactation Educator Counsellor (CLEC), Lactation Care Counsellor (LCC) and Certified Lactation Professional (CLP) are the authentic online courses,” added Swati. |