Please tell me about being a bf counsellor, I'm thinking about it..

[noolia]

That's it really.
Thinking of doing the nct course.
How long will it take to train?
Is there much call for bf counsellors?
Will I be abke to earn any money from it (dh's q!)?
I'm not a hugely mumsy type of person, but a teacher by training - will that help / hinder me?
I'm intending to bf dd for a year (9 months so far).
Thank you.

hi im currently doing the bf helper training they tend not to use the word counsellor the training is around twelve weeks and after that on going its all voluntary obviously the goverment see very little importance in the benefits of breast i'd say with no offence intended that being a teacher will be of no importance its alot about the art of active listening and we always take a hands off approuch but there is a huge need for bf peer helpers there is very little help out there the training is very intense but the work we do after is incredibly rewarding the best way of finding out about funding for bf courses in your area would be the bfn web site or through your health visiter hope this helps

My local NCT BF counsellor chatted to me about this yesterday. She said it takes on average 2 years to train, it's part-time with a bunch of assignments.

YOu can make money from being on the hotline.

She used to be a teacher as well!

I think that there is a demand for BF councellors, and support in general. In my area there are 14 of us training to becoming peer supporters, and potentially another course running in the new year.

HTH

Hi noolia

I'm doing the NCT training, I formally started in Sept 2007 and am now about two-thirds of the way through. 2-3 years is about right in terms of expectations depending on whether you plan to have any more babies. If you are a teacher then some aspects of the course will probably be more straightforward for you.

Once qualified you are paid for work on the breastfeeding line and any antenatal classes you teach but I do not think you will make a living from it unless you get funding to run a drop-in or similar.

I found this information useful.

Im doing the training with the ABM - its slightly different in that its all home study rather than tutorials. Afterwards you help out on the phone lines, run groups etc. It takes around 2 years if you do a few hours a week ish.

The first module you do is a mother supporter module then if you want to do more you do the full training - another 8 modules.

You dont get paid unfortunately.

I am a teacher (well lecturer) too and not really "mumsy" and get along just fine!

xxx