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  • Title: Breastfeeding in emergencies.
    Author: Kelly M.
    Journal: Dialogue Diarrhoea; 1995 Feb; (59):7. PubMed ID: 12288581.
    Abstract:
    In emergency situations created by wars, natural disasters, and famines, people are forced to live in crowded, unsanitary conditions where access to food and health care is limited and the danger of infection, particularly with diarrheal diseases, is great. The situation is compounded when anxieties exist concerning breast feeding; this usually occurs in industrialized countries where artificial feeding was widespread prior to the crisis, breast feeding skills were lost, and inaccurate information replaced traditional knowledge. It is believed that psychological stress and poor diet cause breast milk to dry up. Although diet is important, undernourished women are capable of producing enough milk to feed their babies. Psychological stress can temporarily prevent the release of milk from the breast, but it does not affect milk production. Large supplies of infant formula are not needed, and unrestricted distribution of breast milk substitutes can undermine breast feeding and increase the risk of disease and death. Almost all mothers are physically capable of breast feeding. Those who provide health care and relief assistance during emergencies should undertake the following measures to support breast feeding and to protect the health of mothers: 1) work for agreement between outside agencies and local health workers on breast feeding policy and practice, share up-to-date information, and establish mechanisms to ensure actions are implemented in a coordinated manner; 2) ensure that maternity care practices follow WHO/UNICEF guidelines; 3) encourage women who are not breast feeding to do so, rather than criticizing them; 4) educate the whole community about the benefits of breast feeding and highlight the importance of family and social support; 5) offer one-to-one assistance to mothers who are experiencing difficulty breast feeding through use of a network of experienced mothers, or by training breast feeding counselors (women), who are sensitive to the culture, health beliefs, and circumstances of the mothers they assist; 6) provide assistance with relactation to mothers with infants who have stopped breast feeding early; 7) supply adequate basic food rations to every family, targeting supplementary food for pregnant and breast feeding women, and children of weaning age, not young infants; and 8) only provide infant formula to infants who do not have access to breast milk, and make sure their caregivers have the knowledge, skills, and resources to prepare and give feeds hygienically by cup rather than bottle.
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