The need to establish a certification for lactation specialized knowledge was recognized in the 1980s by La Leche League's (LLL) leadership (Marinelli, 2018). A grant from LLL established the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE) in 1985, which developed into an independent credentialing body offering the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) credential (Eden, 2019). In 2008, the U.S.-based education providers from the Healthy Children Project joined with the Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice (ALPP; Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2008); they became accredited to offer certifications in lactation in 2013 (American National Standards Institute for Credentialing [ANSI], 2013). The Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) certification is their primary credential. To date, these are the only two organizations that have gone through the rigorous process required for an organization to be able to certify that individuals have adequate lactation-specific knowledge to provide care for breastfeeding families. Unlike professional licensure, which is regulated by state governments (in the United States and elsewhere), certifications are awarded by an independently accredited organization that sets the criteria for obtaining certification. Each organization has set its own requirements for its credential. The purpose of this article is to compare the criteria of these two credentials based on their quality and rigor. To do so, metrics that have been widely established within professional education and practice were used (American Educational Research Association et al., 2014). The word certification can be confusing, as it is used in two different ways, when referring to establishing a health care or education provider's knowledge and/or competency. Many education programs, both academic and professional development, provide people who successfully complete a course with a certificate. These types of certificate programs are either knowledge-based certificates, curriculum-based certificates, or certificates of attendance/ participation (Durley, 2005, p. 6). In the lactation field, we have many of these types of programs; they are essential 888217J HLXXX10.