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Breastfeeding Is Most Effective Way to Ensure Infant Health and Safety After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Posted on: Friday, 30 September 2005, 12:01 CDT

In the aftermath of emergencies like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, helping mothers to initiate and continue breastfeeding is crucial. Under normal conditions, infants who are not breastfed are much more susceptible to infections and other illnesses, three times as likely to require hospitalization, and 21% more likely to die in the first year of life. Children in vulnerable situations have a special need for the extra protection that breastfeeding ensures, including infection-fighting factors, optimal nutrition, reliable food source, and comfort. This challenge, and many more, will be addressed in the upcoming new peer-reviewed journal Breastfeeding Medicine (www.liebertpub.com/bfm), the Official Journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (www.bfmed.org).

In contrast to powdered formula, which needs to be mixed with water, human milk provides ample hydration and spares infants exposure to water contaminated during the destruction caused by natural disasters. Direct breastfeeding also prevents the illnesses attributable to bottles and nipples "washed" in unclean water.

Most mothers in the U.S. want to breastfeed, but many quit sooner than recommended, citing lack of sufficient societal support as one key reason. Women warrant extra support during crises like hurricanes and floods. Every effort should be made to rapidly reunite and keep infants with their mothers, provide space where they can feel comfortable nursing, and welcome moms to breastfeed whenever and wherever their babies show signs of hunger or distress.

Relief workers and healthcare providers should encourage mothers delivering during the crisis to breastfeed, help moms initiate breastfeeding immediately after birth, recommend exclusive breastfeeding for approximately 6 months, and assist mothers who recently stopped to restart breastfeeding ("relactate"). Myths such as "stress makes the milk dry up" and "malnourished mothers cannot breastfeed" must be dispelled with accurate information. Feeding the mother is the safest, most effective way to ensure adequate infant nutrition during emergencies.

For more information about safe infant feeding in natural disasters follow the links at www.bfmed.org. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) is a worldwide organization of physicians dedicated to the promotion, protection, and support of breastfeeding and human lactation through education, research, and advocacy. Other valuable resources include the individuals, organizations, and websites noted below.

Breastfeeding Medicine will be published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research including Journal of Women's Health, Obesity Management, and Disease Management. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at www.liebertpub.com.

Nancy Wight, MD (Neonatology) President, Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Phone: 619-222-0442 / Fax: 619-222-0443 / Pager: 858-493-0198 wightsd@aol.com www.bfmed.org Safe Infant Feeding During Emergencies WHO guiding principles for feeding infants and young children in emergencies. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2004/9241546069.pdf Emergency Nutrition Network www.ennonline.net UNICEF website on emergencies and nutrition http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_emergencies.html United States Breastfeeding Committee www.usbreastfeeding.org International Lactation Consultant Association http://www.ilca.org/katrina/InfantFeeding-EmergPP.pdf Center for Disease Control www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/foodwater.asp La Leche League International www.lalecheleague.org/emergency.html Wellstart International http://www.wellstart.org/Infant_feeding_emergency.pdf

Source: Business Wire

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