The NDC Lactation Fellowship: cost and comparisons
What will this cost?
Background
We are aware that, as a member of The NDC Institute who is eligible to participate in the Lactation Fellowship, you have already invested
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$350 x 2 = AUD $700 for the Masterclasses
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Either $850 separately for NDC Accreditation, or a total of $1200 for the bundle that included the two Masterclasses and NDC Accreditation. That is, you have already paid between AUD $1200-$1550.
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We are aware that you are also committing to $325 annually with your membership of Maintenance of NDC Accreditation. If we take an average of 2-3 years to complete the Lactation Fellowship, that means you are paying AUD $1075.
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As a member of The NDC Institute, you have complementary access to the wealth of content in the Possums programs. PBL Advanced has been developed out of the Lactation Fellowship, and is used as its core content.
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This brings us to a total of (on average) AUD $2,400 already invested in becoming NDC Accredited with The NDC Institute, prior to joining the NDC Lactation Fellowship (and anticipating Maintenance membership during the time you complete the Lactation Fellowship + (we hope!) ongoing). For this commitment, we are very grateful and we truly hope you find The NDC Institute is offering you improved work satisfaction as well as rewarding outcomes for your patients.
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In addition, some of you will have paid $75 to access a number of the modules, perhaps up to 4 of them, which gave you two years access. That may have been up to $300. Thank you for your patience as Pam has built the Fellowship at the same time as we've been working out how best to deliver it.
Fee for joining the NDC Lactation Fellowship
Therefore, for those who have registered and have already been participating, we won't ask further fees but will roll you over into the updated version of the Fellowship.
For those who are registering from late February 2026 on (when Tom announces that the rollover of those who've already joined modules or the Fellowship is finalised), we will ask NDC Accredited practitioners only another $200 to join The NDC Lactation Fellowship. We won't increase that cost for at least the next six months.
After that we may need to increase the cost somewhat, for the sake of viability, but we will keep it very affordable because (unlike other comparable courses such as IABLE and LILAC) participants joining the Fellowship have already been upskilling in lactation medicine as part of their NDC Accreditation. Pam is very grateful for the patience of early adopters and supporters of the Fellowship (not to mention Possums overall!) as making the content available has been a huge task!
Maintenance of NDC Lactation Fellowship qualifications
To maintain your licence to use the descriptor NDC Lactation Fellow or NDC Lactation Consultant, an NDC Accredited Practitioner (now also NDC Lactation Fellow or Consultant) will need to remain in Maintenance, renewing annual. We also take this regular financial commitment into account when considering what we are asking for fees for the Fellowship.
Comparisons
IABLE
In 2025 the US breastfeeding education non-profit IABLE released its Deep Dive course covering the same content as the NDC Lactation Fellowship (the NABBLM curriculum) for upskilling as a breastfeeding medicine doctor. The lead doctor is Anne Eglash, co-founder of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. At the time of writing, February 2026, IABLE is charging US$2500 for early bird access to the two year Deep Dive course, which is equivalent to AUD$3500.
The IABLE Deep Dive course offers about 180 hours of learning in total, comprising
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An initial 30 hour Core Content Course
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6 hours of learning monthly over the two years.
It would appear that IABLE commences breastfeeding and lactation content at the level of our NDC Breastfeeding Masterclasses.
LILAC
The University of Rochester’s LILAC (Lessons in Lactation Advanced Curriculum) course in breastfeeding and lactation medicine, which also covers the NABBLM curriculum, costs US$4,750 per year, over two years, to a total of US$9,500. That is, at the time of writing in February 2026, the two-year LILAC course is equivalent to AUD$13,600. The founder and lead doctor is Casey Rosen-Carole. [Note: university-based courses in both the US and Australia have become expensive in recent years due to the steep fiscal pressures operating in the tertiary education sector.]
This includes about 140 hours of learning
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40 hour workshop at the beginning of the program
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4 hours of self-paced education and assessments each month + 1.5 hour class time each month, over 18 months (covering 18 modules)
BreastEd
BreastEd (by Health-eLearning) provides 95 hours of lactation education for those wishing to sit the IBCLE exam, and charges US$135 (AUD $216) for each of its 10 modules – that is, AUD$2160. This is for substantially less content, since the 10 BreastEd modules are preparing for the IBCLE exam, but not aiming to meet a breastfeeding medicine doctor’s educational needs. We note that candidates engaging in lactation education courses to sit for the IBCLE exam do not need to hold health professional qualifications and do not need to have prior clinical experience.
- BreastEd notes on their website: "The minimum lactation-specific educational preparation accepted is 90 + 5 hours, however, IBLCE strongly recommends that students complete a comprehensive, evidence-based LEAARC-approved program of 120+ hours duration. It is unlikely that you will be able to acquire the depth and breadth of knowledge examined by IBLCE and required as a professional in the field from courses of study less than this."
IBLCE exam
It costs US$695 to sit the IBLCE exam, which is as of writing, February 2026, about AUD$1000. After that, re-certification is required every 5 years at US$470, or AUD$666.
Related resources
About The NDC Lactation Fellowship
The NDC Lactation Fellowship: what makes it different
The NDC Lactation Fellowship: upskilling leaders in lactation medicine
NDC Lactation Fellowship Curriculum (Transitioning from interim 2024-25 curriculum to the final 2026 curriculum)