Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Response

Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Response. Are you ready?

This year’s World Breastfeeding Week theme is “Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Response”, and one of its aims is to raise awareness of the importance of breastfeeding in emergencies.

During the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008, a police officer in China made headlines by breastfeeding babies who had been orphaned or separated from their mothers.

Officer Jiang Xiaojuan, a 29 year old mother to a six month old baby, said, "I am breastfeeding, so I can feed babies. I didn't think of it much," she said. "It is a mother's reaction and a basic duty as a police officer to help." At one point, Jiang was feeding nine babies. She possibly saved their lives.

Emergencies can happen anywhere in the world, and they destroy what is ‘normal,’ leaving infants and young children vulnerable to disease and death. Child mortality can soar from two to seventy times higher than average due to diarrhoea, respiratory illness and malnutrition. Breastfeeding is a life-saving intervention.

In New Zealand we are prone to natural disasters – floods, storms, earthquakes and volcanic activity. We never know what is around the corner, and it is important to be prepared. Access to shelter, neighbours, electricity, phone services, shops, medical care and reliable water can be disrupted.

A possible disaster pending at the moment is the swine flu epidemic. La Leche League endorses the statements by New Zealand health authorities which say, “Babies who are breastfed do not get as sick, and are sick less often, than babies who are not breastfed. Don't stop breastfeeding if you are ill. Breastfeeding protects babies because breast milk passes on antibodies from the mother to her baby. Antibodies help fight off infection. Limit formula feeds if you can. If you are too sick to breastfeed, express milk and have someone give it to your baby.”

Barbara Sturmfels, Director of La Leche League New Zealand, says, “Even babies who have been weaned may be able to resume breastfeeding if formula feeding is not safe in a crisis. Any mothers in this situation are encouraged to hold their babies skin-to-skin and to feed them frequently - every two hours. A mother's milk supply will increase gradually and the younger the baby the more rapid the establishment of a sufficient milk supply.”

During emergencies, mothers need active support to continue or re-establish breastfeeding. Many do not know that mothers can increase their milk supply, relactate after having stopped, and that wet-nursing may be an option as a temporary measure or if an infant is orphaned.

Supporting breastfeeding in non-emergency settings will strengthen mothers’ capacity to cope in an emergency. Breastfeeding support groups and programmes offering skilled breastfeeding assistance that are available at all times will be especially valuable during emergencies to provide accurate information and support.

World Breastfeeding Week runs from 1 to 7 August.

ENDS

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