3 L-CERPs

How to Run an
Outpatient Lactation Consult

A Complete Guide

Annie Frisbie MA, IBCLC, PMH-C

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Course description
The most nervewracking part of becoming a private practice lactation consultant is that first visit on your own. No more mentor to shadow, nobody else in the room to take over if things go sideways. 

For me, the performance anxiety showed up for years before I felt confident in my consult workflow. I was a theatre major, so I knew I needed a script, but that seemed impossible when no consult is ever the same.

I made a lot of mistakes over the years as I honed my flow, refined my patter, and overcame my nerves. 

I've designed this course to teach you how I do things- not so you can copy me, but so you can create your own individual way of running an outpatient lactation consult. When you finish this course, you'll feel confident that every consult will be focused, client-centered, compassionate, and effective.

Includes a case study drawn from my own practice for you to practice in a real life situation!
Fabulous information! So clear and practical! Annie's information is always so practical and I always take away something new and helpful to improve my practice. 
Rachel Hodge, IBCLC

3 L-CERPs + Bonus Content

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Text Version

All video modules include downloadable slides + expanded text content in workbook form

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Meet Your Instructor

Annie Frisbie MA, IBCLC, PMH-C has been a lactation consultant in private practice in New York City since 2011. She is also the creator of the Lactation Private Practice Essential Toolkit and the accompanying Lactation Private Practice Essential Course, and is the co-host of the Lactation Business Coaching Podcast. In 2018 Annie was honored with the US Lactation Consultant Association's President's Award, "awarding those that demonstrate extraordinary service to the association and profession." 

Annie has a BA from Franklin and Marshall College with a double major in American Studies & Theatre, Dance, and Film, and an MA in Cinema Studies from New York University. She lives in Queens, New York with her husband, their two children, and their two cats. 
"You are not a breastfeeding cheerleader. You are a clinician."

Annie Frisbie

MA, IBCLC, PMH-C

Learners say  

This course was a good reminder for a lactation consultant like myself that is moving from working within a hospital system into the community and home visits. It felt like I was getting useful advice from a colleague with experience in the area. I feel more prepared and confident to start my private practice — knowing what is within my scope, what is expected, and things to avoid."

Sadye Silva MPH, RDN, CDN, IBCLC

"Annie is always so thorough and thoughtful. Twenty years in as an IBCLC I just hope to pick up a nugget or two from a webinar and Annie's courses never fail."

Diane Michel, MSPH, IBCLC 

"This was an amazing educational module. I recommend it to every single IBCLC starting out in private practice. It is very thorough on the routine of a visit, where to start and tips on what we should and should not include."

Corri Martella RN, IBCLC
Abstract
Working with a family in a home, office, or virtual setting for lactation support requires a combination of clinical structure and moment-to-moment adaptability. This course provides a comprehensive framework for conducting outpatient lactation consultations, covering the full arc of a consult from pre-visit intake through follow-up and closure.

Content is grounded in the IBCLC scope of practice and the IBLCE Code of Professional Conduct, with sustained attention to client-centered care, evidence-based practice, clinical documentation, and interprofessional communication. The course addresses the specific challenges of home, office, and virtual settings — including managing the unexpected: the inconsolable infant, the overwhelmed parent, the family arriving with conflicting guidance from multiple providers.

The course is designed for practicing IBCLCs in outpatient and private practice settings who want to strengthen their clinical framework, improve their documentation, and develop a consultation style that is structured enough to be thorough and flexible enough to meet families where they are.
Knowledge Gap
IBCLCs entering outpatient and private practice typically have strong foundational lactation knowledge but limited preparation for the structural and interpersonal dimensions of conducting an independent consultation. Clinical training programs address breastfeeding physiology and technique; they rarely address how to open a visit, how to sequence a clinical assessment, how to write a professional report for a pediatrician, or how to close a case in a way that supports both family autonomy and practitioner sustainability.

At the same time, experienced practitioners often develop these skills through trial and error, without access to a framework that integrates clinical, ethical, and relational elements into a coherent whole. The result is significant variation in consultation quality, documentation standards, and professional communication — with consequences for family outcomes, interprofessional trust, and IBCLC professional standing.

This course addresses that gap directly: not by adding more clinical content, but by providing the structural and communicative scaffold that allows IBCLCs to apply what they already know more effectively, consistently, and sustainably.
Objectives
After completing this course, participants will be able to:

  • Describe the IBCLC scope of practice and apply it to clinical decision-making and interprofessional communication in outpatient settings.
  • Explain the ethical requirements of the IBLCE Code of Professional Conduct, including obligations related to commercial bias, the WHO Code, and equity in lactation practice.
  • Develop and implement an effective pre-visit intake process, including collection of perinatal depression screening data and the clinical significance of each intake element.
  • Structure the opening of a lactation consultation to establish rapport, obtain informed consent, and elicit collaborative goals using open-ended questioning and motivational interviewing.
  • Apply collaborative goal-setting techniques to surface the family's actual priorities, distinguish presented goals from underlying needs, and build care plans that reflect client-centered rather than practitioner-directed objectives.
  • Develop an individualized, goal-directed care plan that reflects the family's priorities, incorporates the evidence base, and accounts for safety, supply, and sustainability.
  • Write a professional lactation consultation report suitable for communication with pediatricians and other healthcare providers, using appropriate scope-of-practice language.
  • Apply SOAP note documentation principles to outpatient lactation charting, including use of evidenced clinical language and the distinction between clinical chart and provider report.
  • Adapt clinical approach to home, office, and virtual visit modalities, including management of environmental variables and common in-session challenges.
  • Establish clear, sustainable follow-up expectations and navigate case closure in a way that supports family needs and practitioner wellbeing.

Course Lessons

IBLCE Detailed Content Outline: VII Clinical Skills

Annie Frisbie IBCLC Inc has been accepted by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners® (IBLCE®) as a Preferred Provider for the listed Continuing Education Recognition Points (CERPs) programme. Determination of CERPs eligibility or CERPs Provider status does not imply IBLCE’s endorsement or assessment of education quality. As a Preferred Provider, Annie Frisbie IBCLC Inc attests that it complies with the WHO Code and subsequent WHA resolutions.

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Annie Frisbie IBCLC, Inc actively supports the World Health Organization (WHO) International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions. Therefore, Annie Frisbie IBCLC, Inc is not a company, inclusive of manufacturers, distributors, or marketers, whose products fall within the scope of the World Health Organization (WHO) International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (1981) and subsequent World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions (e.g., infant formula, bottles, and teats).

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