Learn at your own pace
Lactation Training
Certified Diversity Lactation Instructor (CDLI)
Online, self-paced training to strengthen your breastfeeding support skills.
$923 • 40-hour curriculum • 3 months to complete from your start date
You will receive login instructions by email within 24 hours after your course payment is confirmed.
Knowledge that reaches your community
Join a growing community of CDLIs.
Build the confidence to support breastfeeding families with practical knowledge, cultural understanding, and compassion.
Why train your staff with Project Milk Mission?
Your staff may be the first people a mother turns to with a breastfeeding question. Give them a shared foundation to respond with clear information, encouragement, and culturally responsive support.
Turn knowledge into everyday support
Help staff recognize common breastfeeding concerns, communicate without judgment, and connect families with appropriate lactation and healthcare resources.
Put cultural understanding into practice
Explore how bias, cultural stigmas, and unequal access to support can shape a family’s breastfeeding experience—and how your team can respond with respect.
Build a stronger team approach
Give community health workers, family support staff, and outreach teams a shared language for breastfeeding education and more consistent support across your organization.
Bring the learning to your team
In-person training for your organization.
Have a group of staff members you would like to train? Bring your team together for an in-person CDLI training with Project Milk Mission. Learn together, discuss the needs of the families you serve, and build skills your team can carry into its daily work.
Email info@projectmilkmission.org to discuss your group, training needs, scheduling, and pricing.
Build your knowledge. Support more families.
Our Certified Diversity Lactation Instructor Training offers an online option for those who would like to learn at their own pace.
Evidence-based support
Explore breastfeeding science, physiology, and practical lactation support skills.
Culturally inclusive care
Address implicit biases, cultural stigmas, and breastfeeding disparities.
Professional development
Strengthen communication, counseling, and lactation support skills.
The curriculum includes:
- Foundations of breastfeeding science and physiology: how lactation works, milk composition, infant weight patterns, and the anatomy and hormones involved in milk production.
- Practical breastfeeding support skills: assessing a feeding, positioning and latch techniques, and addressing common breastfeeding challenges.
- Counseling and communication techniques: listening skills, confidence-building, supporting different learning styles, and providing evidence-based guidance without judgment.
- Cultural, social, and health equity perspectives: understanding racial and ethnic disparities in breastfeeding, especially among African American families, and using culturally responsive approaches.
- Professional practice and ethical standards: applying evidence-based care, understanding healthcare practices that affect breastfeeding, and preparing participants to support families in real-world settings.
Project Milk Mission is verified by the IBLCE as a Recognized Breastfeeding Support Counsellor Organization (RBSCO).
Ready to begin?
Pay $923 for the online, self-paced course. Login instructions will be emailed within 24 hours after payment is confirmed. You have 3 months from your start date to complete the course.
Register Here for Online Training — $923
Questions or interested in upcoming in-person training? Email info@projectmilkmission.org to ask about the waitlist.
Participant Feedback
A useful learning experience.
Feedback from our recent virtual training:
- 100% of participants found the experience useful for their work; 70% strongly agreed and 30% agreed.
- 100% agreed or strongly agreed that the training was organized and easy to follow.
- 100% found the topics relevant to them.