ood security, a first
priority for survival, takes on a unique meaning for mothers with
infants and young children. A mother's instinctive response to
the cry of a hungry infant is to provide nurturing for her child.
Putting her child to her breast assures safe and immediate fulfilment
of her child's needs while at the same time her own anxiety is
calmed. What if a mother had been persuaded to not breastfeed
and what if a mother found herself in a situation of poverty or
in a refugee camp or in a war zone or in a city or country under
an economic embargo or in a natural disaster? Millions of mothers
around the world are faced with the daily need to answer the cries
of their hungry infants without the security of breastmilk.
Numerous situations exist to highlight the need for the protection of optimal breastfeeding practices. There are an estimated 50 million refugees and internally displaced people in the world today. Their number is increasing by 12% each year and at any one time about 2 million are new mothers. Increasingly the urban centres in both the industrialized and the developing world consist of large populations of unemployed and working poor for whom artificial feeding is an unaffordable choice. Food banks in North America, besieged with requests for infant feeding products are by and large unable to respond. Also, in the war zones of Iraq and Bosnia infant mortality rates rose significantly, in part, due to lack of potable water and a dependency on unavailable artificial baby milk supplies.
Frequently the question is asked, how can women who are underfed, poor and possibly malnourished themselves provide sufficient breastmilk for their infants? Misconceptions about women's ability to breastfeed are well-established, yet the burden of food insecurity for themselves must not be exacerbated by the increased dependency of sourcing clean water; an expensive, inferior substitute; and fuel for preparation. Support, both nutritional and social is needed for the breastfeeding woman, so her own needs and those of her child can be met in a sustainable way. The solution is to feed the mother so she can feed her child. Successful breastfeeding contributes to the mother's self esteem and confidence, critical for her ability to care for herself and her family.
A number of challenges exist for those working on infant feeding policies.
How to promote, protect and support breastfeeding in emergency situations?
How to ensure that the limited need for breastmilk substitutes (BMS) does not expose the majority of mothers and babies to unnecessary risks?
How to counter the attempts by the infant feeding industry to appear philanthropic while using feeding emergencies as a means to develop its markets?
Guidelines have been developed by UN agencies, governments and infant feeding organizations to support breastfeeding in emergency and relief situations and ensure that families in emergencies are not targeted for inappropriate infant feeding practices and products. Additional resources: