You’ll need to become a member of the ABM before you can apply to train with us and you must have breastfed your own baby for at least six months. We ask you to be a member of the ABM for three months before you apply for training. 

Mother Supporter 

An ABM mother supporter is an ABM member who is positive about breastfeeding and experienced at breastfeeding her own child or children (for at least six months). She can offer support to mums in her area to help them breastfeed without unnecessary problems. A mother supporter encourages and upholds normal breastfeeding but does not offer breastfeeding counselling. If she suspects a problem, the mother supporter helps the mum contact her local breastfeeding counsellor and provides information on resources: leaflets, local breastfeeding clinics and support groups where she can find appropriate help. 

The role of mother supporter is aimed at mums who wish to support breastfeeding as a ‘well informed friend’, but may feel unsure about the prospect of full counsellor training or don’t have the spare time to complete the counsellor course. Once you have completed the mother supporter course, you’ll usually remain a mother supporter for as long as you remain an ABM member and can provide evidence of annual update of knowledge and skills. 

The Mother Supporter training is free of charge, however, we ask that you pay £25 towards the administration involved in the training. You don’t need to pay this fee until we have accepted you for training, but you must be a member of the ABM (membership fee £25). Our training team is highly qualified and experienced, but they are mothers with families and jobs, so we are only able to accept a certain number of trainees each year for our Mother Supporter course and our more intensive Breastfeeding Counsellor training programme. If you are accepted onto the course and you do not pass the assessment, your fee is not refundable. The course is assessed and not all candidates are successful. 

You’ll need to refresh your knowledge every year - by attending a local study day or conference, by attending an approved breastfeeding support group, or by completing a refresher module by post.

As an ABM mother supporter, you could: 

• Support breastfeeding within your circle of friends and acquaintances and in your local area. 


• Run, or help to run, a support group for breastfeeding mothers to offer support, share experiences and to meet new breastfeeding mothers. There is information on setting up a support group in the ABM’s Breastfeeding Information Pack (given to every new ABM member). 

All trainees (including counsellor trainees) must complete the Mother Supporter Module which: 

• Serves as a stand-alone foundation breastfeeding course.


• Shows us that the trainee has the knowledge to be a ‘well informed friend’ and role model


• Forms the introduction to the full breastfeeding counsellor training.


• Gives the trainee an idea of the standard of work involved in the rest of the ABM training.


• Allows us to assess a potential trainees suitability for the full training.

How do I apply for training? 

Please write an account of your experiences as a breastfeeding mother so we can assess your knowledge and suitability for training and simply find out more about you. You need to be a member of the ABM.

Please include: 

• A little about your background, family life and work. 


• Your pregnancy and birth experiences. 


• Your breastfeeding experiences (from a practical and emotional point of view) 


• Your experience of weaning onto solids, and weaning from the breast (if applicable). 


• Any breastfeeding problems you experienced and how you overcame them. 


• Would you do anything differently with regard to parenting or breastfeeding? 


• Did you read any books on breastfeeding and childcare? Which did you find helpful and why? 


• Why you want to be a mother supporter? 


• What you see yourself doing in two years time? You must tell us if you are (or intend to train as) a midwife, health visitor, health professional, doula or other profession. 

References

Each trainee needs to arrange for two people to write a reference, for instance, a breastfeeding counsellor / health professional / experienced mother, who knows her well. The referee should complete and return the enclosed reference sheets to the ABM. 

If you’d like to apply for Mother Supporter training, please send us: 

• one copy of your application by post (or two copies if you have no email access) 


• another copy of your application by email to training [at] abm [dot] me [dot] uk


• your two references (unless being sent separately)

to:

Association of Breastfeeding Mothers, PO Box 207, BRIDGWATER TA6 7YT 

You can print out the application form here

An online application form will be available soon.

Breastfeeding Counsellor 

Breastfeeding counsellors provide instruction and counselling on breastfeeding to members of the public who may seek information, or women who breastfeed or want to breastfeed. They do this mainly through answering calls to the ABM helpline and the National Breastfeeding Helpline, but also by letter, email and interview. They give information and can arrange and conduct a series of meetings or talks about breastfeeding and breastfeeding-related issues, to new mums, health professionals or schools, they may also help or provide local support groups.

What does the training involve? 

We train mums who have successfully completed our Mother Supporter module and who have breastfed a child for at least six months. ABM counsellor training consists of a series of eight modules
which cover all aspects of breastfeeding. Each module contains a counselling skill element. Modules are completed by home study. 

This course is demanding and involves a lot of reading and research. It isn’t suitable for anyone already engaged in further study such as midwifery training, or an Open University course, or anyone involved in demanding full time employment. When you return a module with an SAE, you’ll be sent the next module, along with constructive comments about the module you have just completed when it is assessed. Each trainee is allocated a mentor, who is a counsellor and willing to support trainees. You are free to phone your mentor whenever you need advice or help with training. You also have a regional coordinator and supervisor that you should keep in touch with, who may from time to time offer practical training sessions. It is strongly recommended that you attend some approved practical training sessions. 

After training 

After training, you will be a ‘probationary’ counsellor for 6 months and are expected to remain an ABM counsellor for at least two years and provide telephone counselling for that time. During training you’ll be asked to sign a contract agreeing to this and to abide by the ABM’s Code of Conduct and Ethics. The ABM runs a telephone helpline. Callers are automatically put through to their nearest counsellor(s). Counsellors can also support women in their neighbourhoods: running support groups, and providing breastfeeding antenatal classes etc.

To remain a counsellor, you need to keep your ABM membership up to date. We also expect counsellors to keep up to date with new breastfeeding information and research by reading the ABM magazine and other appropriate literature. Every year, counsellors need to attend a study day or complete a revision module, and at least every two years the update must be by attendance at a recognised study day. 

How do I apply? 

If you wish to apply for training as an ABM Breastfeeding Counsellor, you need to have successfully completed our Mother Supporter module and been approved for further training. There may be a waiting list to start the training. 

We’ll ask you to apply separately for breastfeeding counsellor training but to wait for six months after you’ve qualified as a mother supporter. This will give you a chance to let us know how you’ve been able to use your mother supporter skills/knowledge. We’ll ask you to provide a further two references. 

We provide counsellor training free of charge, but ask for a contribution of £100 to cover application administration costs: £50 at the start of the training and £50 when you reach Module 5. 

ABM counsellor training consists of: 

• Mother supporter module: An initial module to become a mother supporter and assess your knowledge. 


• Module One: How breastfeeding works. Includes anatomy and physiology and reflection on your own experiences. 


• Module Two: Breast and nipple problems including common challenges and the basics of counselling 


• Module Three: The importance of breastfeeding including design a poster/flyer/leaflet (optional). 


• Module Four: Problems with milk supply including assessing a breastfeed (practical). 


• Module Five: Expressing and storing breastmilk. Listening skills. 


• Module Six: Postnatal depression. Colic and crying. Breast refusal. Twins and multiple births. Listening in a group situation. 


• Module Seven: Introducing solids. Weaning. Sleeping and night-time breastfeeding. Telephone counselling. 


• Module Eight: Drugs in breastmilk. Breastfeeding the Premature baby. 


• Completion: Evaluation of training. Working with health professionals. Setting up a support group. 

It’s impossible to cover all the counselling questions you might meet but, after completing the counsellor training modules, you’ll have a good knowledge of breastfeeding and know how to find further information if you need it. We encourage you to complete your training within a two-year period, by allowing 6 -8 weeks per module, a couple of weeks per module for reflection, plus a few extra weeks for family holidays means that you should be complete within two years. We also encourage trainees to study up to date breastfeeding books and relevant journals. You should keep your knowledge up to date once you’re trained and attend at least one breastfeeding study day each year. We update our training programme as and when necessary. 

Recommended reading for ABM breastfeeding counsellor trainees 

You’ll need to buy or borrow some books so it’s useful if you have access to a good public library or even a midwifery/hospital library if possible. There’s a lot of information available via the internet too.

If you’re thinking about buying books via the internet, please consider purchasing via the ‘Amazon’ links on the ABM website. There are often special offers on Amazon and the ABM receives a small commission on any books you buy. Be aware that the books you buy are written by people recognised in the field of breastfeeding and that they are ‘peer reviewed’. 

These are particularly useful: 

• Breastfeeding Naturally Australian Breastfeeding Assoc. £20. Available from ABM. 


• The Breastfeeding Answer Book by Mohrbacher & Stock, LLL International, 2003 £55 - £100 


• Bestfeeding: Getting Breastfeeding Right for You by Renfrew, Fisher & Arms, Celestial Arts, 2000. £13 


• Pocket Guide to Breastfeeding and Lactation by Riordan & Auerbach, Jones & Bartlett, 2000. £13

Case Studies in Breastfeeding by Cadwell and Turner-Maffei , Jones and Bartlett, 2003. £21 (worth reading towards the end of the course)

Also recommended: 

• Breast is Best by Penny and Andrew Stanway, Pan Books, 2005. £8 


• Dr Jack Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding by Jack Newman and Teresa Pitman. £12 


• Breastfeeding Your Baby by Moody, Britten and Hogg (NCT) Stationery Office 2nd edition 1998. £9 


• The Politics of Breastfeeding by Gabrielle Palmer, 2009. £8


• Breastfeeding Special Care Babies by Sandra Lang, Balliere Tindall, 2002. £22 


• The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League, Plume Books, 2004. £10 

ABM helpline commitment 

After qualifying, we expect a counsellor to answer calls to the helpline (from her own home) for a minimum of two years. Our helpline is open from 9.30am till 10.30pm. It is divided into 'slots' and a newly qualified counsellor is expected to take on at least two of these five slots: 

1. weekday mornings


2. weekday afternoons


3. weekday evenings


4. weekend mornings and afternoons


5. weekend evenings 

You aren't expected to sit by your phone throughout each slot, but we expect you to agree to be "generally available" during most of your slot. For example, if you take the weekday slot, you can leave the house to do the school run or go out to buy bread, or not be available every Thursday afternoon, but, generally speaking, you are around to take helpline calls. Calls last an average of 17 minutes and you might take up to three calls a day or none for a week. You'd be expected to pick up at least 75% of the calls offered to your number and at least 100 calls per year. For the first six months, you’ll stay in close contact with your regional supervisor so she can discuss your helpline calls with you and any concerns you may have.

Counsellors with heavy employment and/or family commitments can find it hard to fit in helpline slots. We ask breastfeeding counsellor applicants to consider carefully whether they'd be able to devote the necessary time to the ABM helpline.  

Please contact us if you have any questions