Breastfeeding promotion: a vital emergency intervention disregarded?
Author: Patten, T. Afr Health.
Year: 1997
Resource type: Article
Breastfeeding promotion: a vital emergency intervention disregarded? Patten T. Afr Health. 1997 Sep;19(6):24
Abstract: PIP: This article explains the need for promotion of breast feeding among donors and humanitarian aid organizations in emergency situations. Breast feeding offers fewer health hazards than artificial feeding in war or emergency settings. Breast feeding normally also provides the advantage of immune protection for the infant, psychological well-being of the mother and child, fertility regulation, an hygienic food source, and an economic means of feeding infants. Many war casualties are women and children. War casualties are exposed to injury, the disruption of water and food supplies, epidemics, and other detrimental social and environmental conditions. Refugees tend to have a poorer psychological state of health than control populations. This is attributed to displacement, sexual violence, loss of emotion support, and loss of cultural traditions. Women lose traditional sources of independence and authority when their homes are destroyed. Prevailing conditions of conflict that contribute to a mother's anxiety and insecurity may interfere with a mother's "let down" reflex and lactation. Health professionals in emergency settings need to be aware of breast feeding difficulties. Mothers with the proper encouragement and support can overcome their breast feeding difficulties. The promotion of breast feeding is a practical means of helping women gain control over their lives. Breast feeding allows women to feed their infants safely and effectively, to feed their infants by a cheap and sustainable means, to contribute to the well-being of another, to rebuild feelings of confidence, and to reduce intervention costs. Promotion of breast feeding can be started without delay.
Abstract at this link.
More like this
FEX: Breastfeeding support in the refugee camps of North Western Tanzania
By Lucas Kulwa Machibya Lucas Machibya has been working for UNHCR since June 1994 in the north-western Tanzania refugee operation as National Public Health Nutrition Officer....
FEX: Counselling on infant feeding choice: Some practical realities from South Africa
By Tanya Doherty (pictured), Mickey Chopra and Mike Colvin Tanya is currently a senior scientist at the Health Systems Trust and Medical Research Council in Capetown, South...
Resource: The Gulf War, child nutrition and feeding practices in Iraq
Mary C. Smith Fawzi ScD, Walid Aldoori M.D. ScD, Wafaie W. Fawzi M.D. DrPH and Nagib Armijo-Hussein M.D. MPH Nutrition Research, Volume 17, Issue 5 , May 1997 View original...
FEX: Infant Feeding in Emergencies - the challenges
To the uninitiated, Infant Feeding in Emergencies (IFE) may seem like a pretty innocuous topic which gets a lot of media coverage when crises occur. The fact is that there is a...
Resource: During disasters, breastfeeding's advantages shine, News article
By Heather K. Brosi, Special to the St Petersburgh Times In print: Monday, June 16, 2008 Available from: www.tampabay.com/news/health/article626768.ece As we enter another...
FEX: Letter on infant feeding in Former Yugoslavia, by Fiona Watson, Aileen Robertson and Aida Filipovic
Dear Editors, We would like to comment on the article "Infant Feeding in Emergencies: Experience from Former Yugoslavia" (Field Exchange, Issue 1, May '97). Our...
en-net: Does the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes applies for Ready to Use commercially produced complementary foods ?
this question is regarding how the Code applies to commercially produced complementary foods and if they could be used as a demonstration method by health workers for...
en-net: Breastfeeding problems and food supplements. Any association?
Why is it in the SFP we find the following as admission criteria: 'Lactating women with an infant < 6 months if they have breastfeeding problems or if the infant is not...
FEX: Diarrhoea risk associated with not breastfeeding in Botswana
Summary of report and presentation1 Between November 2005 and February 2006, there were unusually heavy rains and flooding in Botswana, and by January 2006, there was an...
FEX: Challenges of IYCF and psychosocial support in Lebanon
By Juliette Seguin Juliette Seguin is currently Health and Nutrition Coordinator for ACF Lebanon. She has been working with ACF since 2011 in Haiti, Guinea, Bangladesh, Turkey...
FEX: Putting IFE guidance into practice: operational challenges in Myanmar
By Victoria Sibson Victoria Sibson has been the emergency nutrition adviser for Save the Children UK since April 2007, with a focus on treatment of acute malnutrition and...
FEX: Infant Feeding Practices: Observations from Macedonia and Kosovo
As a result of concerns expressed about the usage of infant formula and a need for more information regarding weaning practices during and after the conflict in Kosovo, Action...
FEX: Artificial feeding in emergencies: experiences from the ongoing Syrian crisis
By Suzanne Mboya Suzanne Mboya is a consultant nutritionist. In 2014 she completed a sixth month mission supporting the Syrian crisis IYCF-E response through a partnership...
FEX: Improving practical skills for breastfeeding vulnerable infants in low-resource settings: training material development and a case study from Rwanda
Read a summary of this field article here. By Himali de Silva and Maya Asir with contributions from Kathryn Beck, Catherine M Kirk, Gato Saidath, Marie Louise Manirakiza and...
FEX: Infant Feeding Alternatives for HIV Positive Mothers in Kenya
By Tom Oguta, Abiud Omwega and Jaswant Sehmi Tom Oguta is currently a PhD student of Nutrition at the University of Nairobi. He has worked as a Research Officer at KIRDI...
FEX: Development and pilot testing of the Maternal Opportunities for Making Change (MOM-C) screening tool
By Scott Ickes and Alex Lea Scott Ickes is Assistant Professor at the College of William and Mary Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences, Williamsburg, VA, USA Alex...
FEX: Ambulatory treatment of severe malnutrition in Afghanistan
By Emmanuelle Lurqin Emmanuelle is a paediatric nurse and since 2000, has worked with MSF Belgium on nutrition programmes in Angola, Burundi, and Afghanistan. She is currently...
en-net: Relactating Exercise
I do want to study more about relactation exercise for mothers who had ceased breastfeeding for long time. And, other is that does a woman who never marriage (never delivered...
FEX: Infant feeding in a TFP
MSc Thesis1 by Mary Corbett, Concern, HQ Nutritionist The benefits of breastfeeding are widely-know. In conditions characteristic of most emergencies breastfeeding becomes even...
FEX: Breastfeeding Support Groups in Tajikistan
Uma Palaniappan and Zinaida Abdullaeva Uma Palaniappan & Zinaida Abdullaeva Uma Palaniappan is the Nutrition Programme Manager of Action Against Hunger in Kurgan Tyube in...
Reference this page
Patten, T. Afr Health. (1997). Breastfeeding promotion: a vital emergency intervention disregarded?. www.ennonline.net/bfpromotion
(ENN_435)