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Experiences of supporting breastfeeding

Document type:	Case study
Year:	2002
Location:	Tanzania
Topic:	Refugees
Author:	GIFA / ENN report (UNHCR)
Date published:	January 2003

Case study from INFANT AND YOUNG CHILD FEEDING IN EMERGENCIES GIFA/ENN PROJECT (2003-2004)

Researchers: Mary Corbett (Evaluation of Module 1) and Marie McGrath (Collation of case studies)

Case 39
Location: Tanzania
Time: 2002
Source: Fatia Abdullah, UNHCR
Nature: Experiences of supporting breastfeeding

My experiences regarding infant feeding in Tanzania were good – a reflection, I feel, of good inter-agency co-ordination and co-operation. Here, 500,000 refugees were managed. Initially, women who were reporting difficulties in breastfeeding were admitted to the SFPs and the mother received supplementary rations, with encouragement to breastfeed her infant. However, this proved less effective in practice. Many of the women could ill-afford to spend time in the centre, with commitments to other children at home. Also, there was a tendancy for the programme to turn into a social centre with lots of sleeping, chatting and socialising between the women, diverting attention from feeding issues. As a result, an alternative strategy was used. Instead, mothers were not admitted to the SFP but were supported from home by community support groups of peers. We found this worked much better.

This resource appears in: Field Exchange & ENN reports, presentations

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