Margaret Salty

Margaret Salty Education, guidance, and support to students and new lactation consultants.

06/04/2026

Inconsistent practice scores are not a knowledge problem. They are a method problem.

Most candidates take a practice set, check the score, skim the explanations, and move on. That is testing yourself — not studying.

Slow down. Fewer questions, worked deeper. Ask what the question was really testing. Ask which distractor almost fooled you and why.

That is where the score moves.

Comment PASS and I'll DM you my free question-breakdown guide — the same framework I teach my students.

06/03/2026

Most perceived low supply situations are not actually a supply problem. They are a system problem — something shifted, and the milk responded.

New fl**ge. Returning to work. Pacifier. Growth spurt. Combination pill. A weekend away from the pump.

If you start with 'what changed,' you almost always find the lever. Skip it and you end up treating a problem the parent does not actually have.

What would you have asked first? Tell me below.

Most of us were taught to look at p-values. The confidence interval often tells you more.A wide CI means the study's hea...
06/03/2026

Most of us were taught to look at p-values. The confidence interval often tells you more.

A wide CI means the study's headline is shakier than it sounds. A CI that crosses 1.0 (for risk ratios) means the result might be no effect at all.

Reading research well is a clinical skill — not a stats degree.

Save this for the next time a study lands in your feed.

Domain II is the most commonly underestimated domain on the IBCLC exam.Candidates assume "Physiology and Endocrinology" ...
06/02/2026

Domain II is the most commonly underestimated domain on the IBCLC exam.

Candidates assume "Physiology and Endocrinology" means "memorize the hormones." It actually means "recognize which mechanism the question is testing through the case scenario." Different skill.

The free Cheat Sheet linked in my bio breaks down all 7 domains this way — 5 high-yield concepts each, plus a pattern alert per domain telling you what kind of question style that domain produces.

— Margaret

06/02/2026

U.S. breastfeeding initiation rates look reassuring at the headline level — around 83%.

Then you look at who's included in that number.

Non-Hispanic Black infants initiate at closer to 73%. By six months, exclusive breastfeeding rates drop further below the national average. By twelve months, the gap is wider, not smaller. Source: CDC Breastfeeding Report Card.

This is not a knowledge gap. Black families are not under-educated about breastfeeding. They face more barriers — earlier return to work without paid leave, less access to in-hospital lactation support, fewer IBCLCs who reflect their communities, less culturally responsive care, and a healthcare system that has not consistently earned their trust.

The response can't be another awareness campaign. It has to be structural. More IBCLCs of color in the pipeline. Better paid leave policy. Hospital systems that follow families home. Lactation care that's accessible where families actually live and work.

When we talk about lactation as public health, this is what we mean. The credential isn't just about one family at a time. It's about who gets help at all.

Share this if more people in our profession should be talking about it.

The September 2026 IBCLC exam is 12 weeks away. If you don't have a study plan yet, start here.Most candidates spend the...
06/01/2026

The September 2026 IBCLC exam is 12 weeks away. If you don't have a study plan yet, start here.

Most candidates spend their first month buying resources, the second month watching content, and the third month panicking. That's not a study plan. That's a slow drift toward exam day.

A framework that actually works:

Weeks 1-3 — Diagnostic. Take one full-length practice exam early. Map your score by IBLCE domain. This tells you where to spend the next 9 weeks.

Weeks 4-6 — Targeted content review. Work your weakest domains first, not your favorite ones.

Weeks 7-9 — Question-breakdown phase. For every miss, ask: did I miss the content, the question stem, or the reasoning? Three different problems, three different fixes.

Weeks 10-11 — Integration. Full-length practice exams, mixed-domain blocks, exam-day timing.

Week 12 — Taper. Light review, sleep, logistics. Cramming the week before lowers scores. The data is clear.

The candidates who pass aren't the ones who memorized the most. They're the ones who learned to slow down on every question.

Save this and start your 12-week plan this week.

My Exam Prep Suite walks you through every step — domain breakdowns, the question-review framework, and a paced study schedule. Link in bio when you're ready.

💬 Today🚨 Today’s the Day! 🚨Our FREE Mentorship Meetup is happening today, and you don’t want to miss it.Come join us to:...
06/01/2026

💬 Today

🚨 Today’s the Day! 🚨
Our FREE Mentorship Meetup is happening today, and you don’t want to miss it.

Come join us to:
🤝 Connect with your lactation community
🍼 Learn from case discussions
💡 Grow your confidence and your network

It’s free, fun, and all about building each other up.

👉 Comment MEETUP right now for the link to join!

Most new IBCLCs in private practice spend their first 10 clients trying to perfect the wrong things — the website, the b...
05/31/2026

Most new IBCLCs in private practice spend their first 10 clients trying to perfect the wrong things — the website, the branding, the booking software, the Instagram presence.

None of that is what makes or breaks a new practice.

What does:

— The actual quality of the visit. Clear, written plans clients can follow at 2am.
— Documentation from day one. Your first 10 clients are your case bank.
— One deep referral relationship, not ten lukewarm ones.
— A simple fee structure. One initial price, one follow-up price.
— A real 24-hour follow-up cadence, not as an upsell — as a check-in.

Your first 10 clients are not a marketing problem. They're a quality, documentation, and follow-up problem. Get those three right and the practice grows from there.

Save this for when you see your first client.

And if you're seriously thinking about starting a practice, DM me PRACTICE — I'll send you the new-practice checklist.

💬 Tomorrow⏰ It’s almost time! Our next FREE Mentorship Meetup is TOMORROW!These sessions are the perfect space to:✨ Stre...
05/31/2026

💬 Tomorrow

⏰ It’s almost time! Our next FREE Mentorship Meetup is TOMORROW!

These sessions are the perfect space to:
✨ Strengthen your professional community
✨ Share and learn from case experiences
✨ Ask questions and get real support from peers

👉 Comment MEETUP now to grab your spot before we get started!

Doors closed last night. Thank you to everyone who showed up this week — the readers who bought, the readers who didn't,...
05/30/2026

Doors closed last night. Thank you to everyone who showed up this week — the readers who bought, the readers who didn't, the readers who DM'd, the readers who replied to emails. All of it counts.

Promo weeks are a lot. I appreciate the trust to be in your inbox more than usual for a few days.

Back to normal cadence next week.

If you didn't buy and the timing wasn't right, the products are all available individually. Lactation Exam Mastery is $37 and is the place most candidates start.

Comment EXAM for the link.

If you bought and you're sitting with the course tonight, just hit reply on the welcome email when something needs unsticking.

— Margaret

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Columbus, OH

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