Book Review

Dawn Kersula, MA, RN, IBCLC, LCCE, FACCE Share this:

Comprehensive Lactation Consultant Exam Review, 4th Edition

Linda J. Smith, MPH, FACCE, IBCLC, FILCA © 2016 Jones & Bartlett Learning,
362 pages, paperback, $90.95
Available from: http://www.jblearning.com/catalog/9781284069273/

Back in another century, when I took the International
Board Certified Lactation Examiner (IBLCE) exam for
the first time, I found it easy to study. I bought the two
books and worked my way through them. The body
of knowledge seemed wide—but not overwhelming.
Sometimes I would start reading and say “I know this—I
don’t need to read this chapter.”
Twenty years later, I was almost in a panic getting ready
to recertify. I’d kept up with my education and reading.
But the field is expanding exponentially—the number of
books had multiplied along with the number of studies
and the breadth of the research. How to prepare? Linda
Smith’s Comprehensive Lactation Consultant Review, of
course! (I passed.)
It’s impossible to keep up with everything in the field.
Smith, with her encyclopedic memory and database,
does an amazing job of keeping up with best practice and
current evidence; this book can also serve as a resource
for the busy clinician.
This book covers all the topics in the IBLCE exam
outline, from preconception to prenatal to postpartum.
From questions by age (1–2, 3–14, 15–28 days),
to developmental stages through the first year and
beyond, then General Principles, Prematurity, and
a series of Case Reports. Each question is coded by
Difficulty, Discipline, and reads just like the ones on
the exam.
One of the challenges of practicing as an IBCLC is the
delicacy of our intimate relationship with mother/baby
dyads—and conversely, our political relationship with
many of our healthcare colleagues. Smith addresses
these concerns in the introduction and in the Clinical
(Field) Exercises. Here is a sampling:
‡ Spending time in venues new to us (e.g., a hospital
nurse visiting a mother’s support group)
‡ Going to a mall or park to watch mothers and
nursling-aged children interacting
‡ Examining a neonatal hypoglycemia policy,
comparing it to the protocols used in your community
The online test-taking component of the Review features
1,300 questions. You can create your own tests and take
the 175 question tests (there are two of them). Questions
are also classified by discipline and difficulty; the online
feature tells you how many of the questions you’ve already
tried. You can try them again or answer new ones.
Would I buy this book to get ready for the exam again?
My answer is—absolutely yes. It’s a learning tool, a
confidence booster, and worth every penny.

36 © 2017 United States Lactation Consultant Association

Clinical Lactation, 2017, 8(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1891/2158-0782.8.1.36

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