Becoming an IBCLC with the OBC
Breastfeeding Medicine Program
Welcome to the Ontario Breastfeeding Clinic (OBC), your pathway to becoming an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)! Our dedicated team of seasoned IBCLCs is thrilled to guide and support you on your journey. At OBC, we focus on helping future IBCLCs learn, grow, and accumulate the necessary hours for the IBLCE exam.
Your IBCLC Mentors will support you at all stages of becoming an IBCLC. From first steps to final stretch, we can help you prepare for the exam and beyond.
Our program, tailored for students aiming to complete 500 Directly Supervised Clinical hours, is flexible and can be adjusted for those needing fewer hours through collaboration with multiple mentors. The OBC Breastfeeding Medicine Program provides a supportive community, including Monthly Mentor Meetups which foster a collaborative and encouraging learning environment.
The OBC offers Office Consults, Home Visits, and Virtual Consults by experienced IBCLCs. While interactions may be virtual, there are in-person opportunities for observation and clinical care in Lindsay, Milton, Mississauga, New Liskeard, Niagara, Norfolk, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, Waterloo, with more locations being added.
As an OBC student, you'll be assigned a primary mentor and have the chance to work with a diverse group of IBCLCs, each bringing a unique skill set to enhance your lactation care experience, including expertise in areas such as mental health, oral habilitation, rhythmic movements, Registered Nursing, parenting, infant sleep education, Midwifery, nutrition, Naturopathic Medicine, Kinesiology, Holistic Pharmacy, and more.
Join us at the Ontario Breastfeeding Clinic and embark on a fulfilling journey towards becoming a certified IBCLC, with a maximum completion date of 18 months from your start date. Extensions to this timeline are available at an additional fee.
We're proud to offer our OBC Breastfeeding Medicine Program IBCLC Graduates a guaranteed (optional) interview with our Teams Committee where you will be considered for an IBCLC position with the OBC.
This unique feature reflects our confidence in the calibre of professionals our program produces.
We look forward to supporting you every step of the way!
Passion Ignites Excellence: Elevate Your Career with OBC
Building Healthy Futures
Becoming an IBCLC: Choosing your Pathway Discovery Consult
Becoming an IBCLC: Choosing your Pathway Discovery Consult
Does your community have enough lactation support? Be part of the solution!
Become an IBCLC and help breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding families in your area and beyond.
As an IBCLC, you play a crucial role in supporting breastfeeding families, fostering optimal nutrition, and contributing to the well-being of both mothers and babies. It's a fulfilling career choice that combines compassion, knowledge, and the joy of nurturing a healthier future.
Let's build a healthy future together!
Becoming an IBCLC: Choosing your Pathway Discovery Consult
Becoming an IBCLC: Choosing your Pathway Discovery Consult
Becoming an IBCLC: Choosing your Pathway Discovery Consult
Ready to become an IBCLC? Unsure what to do next? Looking for a Mentor? Hoping to become an OBC IBCLC?
Begin by Booking this
60 minute discovery consult where we discuss:
What is IBLCE
Choosing the best IBLCE Mentorship Pathway
Required IBLCE prerequisites
Choosing 95+ hours of Lactation Specific Courses
Clinical Training Mentorship with the OBC
Taking the IBLCE Exam
Becoming an OBC IBCLC
and more
Let's build healthy futures together!
We are excited to offer the cost of this consultation as a credit toward an annual membership for our Mentor Meetups or our Clinical Training Mentorship within a limited time from this consult.
Becoming an IBCLC: Choosing your Pathway Discovery Consult
($220+HST Virtual Discovery Consult)
500 Hour Clinical Training Mentorship
Becoming an IBCLC: Choosing your Pathway Discovery Consult
500 Hour Clinical Training Mentorship
OBC Breastfeeding Medicine Program Includes: 500 directly supervised clinical hours for Pathway 1 and Pathway 3 Students + 12 Monthly Mentor Meetups
To be considered for mentorship, please book a Choosing your Pathway Discovery Consult. During this 60 minute virtual meeting with Ashley Pickett, IBCLC Mentor and OBC Education Director, we will review your professional goals, your prerequisites, and your availability.
If you are accepted into the OBC Breastfeeding Medicine Program we will finish the hour answering any questions, reviewing tuition payment plans, and scheduling your first day as a Mentee.
2025 Tuition $8450 plus HST
Tuition may be payable in instalments, over 12 months or 18 months, on a case-by-case basis. Financing fees apply.
This fee encompasses Clinical Training for up to 18 months. Should students encounter challenges completing practical requirements within this timeframe, an additional fee of $200 per month will be applicable until fulfillment.
Refund Policy:
Once Clinical Training commences, no refunds will be granted.
Becoming an IBCLC: Choosing your Pathway Discovery Consult
($220+HST Virtual Discovery Consult)
Monthly Mentor Meetups (Virtual)
Midwifery Student Lactation Practicum: Welcome to the Village
500 Hour Clinical Training Mentorship
Ready to become an IBCLC?
Welcome to the Village
Your OBC MENTORS are looking forward to seeing you at monthly OBC Mentor Meetups.
Let us answer your questions about client cases, course content, and becoming an IBCLC to help you stay on track to meet your professional goals.
Your IBCLC Mentors will support you at all stages of becoming an IBCLC. From first steps to final stretch, we can help you prepare for the exam and beyond.
Annual Student Support Membership: 12 Monthly Virtual STUDENT IBCLC Mentor Meetups
($600+HST; Complementary for OBC 500 Hour Clinical Training Mentees)
Midwifery Student Lactation Practicum: Welcome to the Village
Midwifery Student Lactation Practicum: Welcome to the Village
Midwifery Student Lactation Practicum: Welcome to the Village
MEP Midwifery Student in second or third year? Elevate your career with a fascinating Practicum with far-reaching impact.
Level up your lactation knowledge and support skills with our team of amazing IBCLC Preceptors, both virtually, in-office, and at home visits with consenting families located province-wide and help optimize the health of mother, child, and family for the rest of their lives.
Following our program you will identify and appropriately respond to a wide variety of lactation risk factors experienced by birthing parents prenatally, during the birth process, and the first six weeks. You will understand how unidentified lactation issues impact a mother's ability to meet her breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding goals post discharge.
Apply your new knowledge immediately to provide timely education and lactation support to help mother's reach their infant feeding goals, and help improve maternal satisfaction, breastfeeding exclusivity and duration rates in Ontario. Thank you for helping us raise the bar in lactation support in Ontario and beyond.
Meet our Education Director
Midwifery Student Lactation Practicum: Welcome to the Village
Midwifery Student Lactation Practicum: Welcome to the Village
Hello from Ashley! I am the Education Director for the Ontario Breastfeeding Clinic Breastfeeding Medicine Program.
I have been a mentor for 12+ years, and am now offering mentorship at the OBC to help even more students obtain hours.
I am looking forward to helping you become an IBCLC!
Ashley Pickett, IBCLC
Education Director
Ontario Breastfeeding Clinic
Need help?
You and your baby deserve A FULL HOUR with an IBCLC and a Physician Specializing in Breastfeeding Medicine (with valid referral) at an OHIP subsidized rate.
You are welcome to BOOK NOW online to save your spot immediately, or contact us for assistance and a human admin will return your message during business hours.