Tag: national breastfeeding month

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Feliz Semana de La Lactancia Latina!

Last year marked the very first  Semana de La Lactancia Latina as part of National Breastfeeding Month. Though the official celebration is still young, the 2024 tema: Reclamando Nuestra Cultura Por Medio de la Lactancia/ 2024 theme: Reclaiming Culture Through Lactation (September 3-9), reminds us of the ancient and deeply-rooted birth and infant feeding traditions throughout Latin culture.

Photo by Rosalba Ruiz, used with permission from Latina/x Breastfeeding Week/ https://www.facebook.com/Latinxbreastfeedingweek

Semana de La Lactancia Latina was originally created by the Union de Lideres de Lactancia Latino (Latinx Lactation Collective) in an effort to uplift voices from the Latino/x community and to celebrate the diverse cultures of Latino communities while also bringing awareness to the unique barriers faced by these communities including language justice. 

LLL USA shared this lively account of breastfeeding– Celebrating Latina/x Breastfeeding Week (Semana de La Lactancia Latina): Chuchú— a window into the beautiful act of raising children on one peninsula.  The original and English translation were contributed by La Leche League Leaders in the LLL Intercultural Area.

“In Yucatan, since ancient times, we have a specific word to identify breastfeeding [both as a verb and as a substantive]; it is a short word, but to me, as a proud Yucatecan, it feels full of joy, abundance, and comfort. Chuchú comes from the Maya language, specifically from the verb Chu’uch which means to breastfeed.

Chuchú is as standardized in our culture as cochinita pibil, a delicious typical dish made with pork, seasoned with local spices and condiments, as well as sour orange, whose cooking is usually done by digging a hole in the ground, covering it with banana leaves, stones and charcoal and takes hours under low heat to reach the perfect flavor. Similar to Chuchú, it requires patience, delicacy in its process, combining both ancestral and present-time skills.

A typical way to give Chuchú in Yucatán is to do so while lying in a hammock, swaying naturally or vigorously to cool off from the hot climate of the peninsula. I confess that this is my favorite way, position to give Chuchú to my youngest son, Marcelo, the third child or xtup of the family (pequeño or menor in Maya), to enjoy these moments like I did with our other children. The hammock, Chuchú, and our love are the perfect combination that has prevailed since the generations of my ancestors.” 

Source: United States Breastfeeding Committee

HealthConnect One’s Brenda Reyes, RN, CLC in Reclaiming Latino/Hispanic birth and breastfeeding traditions reiterates that Latino/Hispanic culture is not homogenous, so she shares tradition from a personal perspective. 

During her pregnancy, her family rallied around her, protecting her and her growing baby from the effects of stress. 

“My ancestors had a very clear idea and connection about emotion and stress [during pregnancy and beyond,]” Reyes begins. “They knew the impact of emotion.”

That meant household chores were alleviated from her routine during the “Cuarentena,” 40 days after the postpartum period. Food and nutrition were central to the support she received too. She learned from her mother and grandmother about the importance of healthy activity during pregnancy, and the way movement could replace medicalized pain intervention during birth. Once she gave birth, she carried her baby in a rebozo, the same way her mother carried her. 

In conjunction with uplifting beautiful traditions, Reyes reminds us that we must also acknowledge the barriers Latino/Hispanic families face and take action to diminish these challenges.  

For one, Reyes explains language barriers. 

Not only are institutions failing to provide health services in a culturally humble or sensitive way; at its worst, information and services aren’t even being communicated or provided to them, she begins. 

“We deal with institutional racism,” Reyes continues.  And Latino/Hispanic families are impacted by immigration issues. 

“Immigration impacts a very large percentage of our community,” Reyes says. Often unvoiced, she says immigration needs to become part of our national discussion around maternal child health, because Latino/Hispanic communities carry the stress of immigration status which has far-reaching implications like foregoing or discontinuing prenatal and postpartum care. 

https://www.ourmilkyway.org/accessing-the-milky-way-scholarship-recipient-inspires-positive-change-in-generations-to-come/

Moreover, Latina mothers are working mothers and need workplace policies to support them. There’s also a lack of leadership opportunities for Latino people.

This year, you can engage through the Latina/x Breastfeeding Week Facebook page by posting your events to their calendar, joining a virtual ceremony, among other opportunities. Find other ways to act by following the Binational Breastfeeding Coalition on instagram. 

For more Latino/Hispanic perinatal stories and resources, check out: 

Hispanic Health Council’s Breastfeeding Heritage and Pride (BHP) Program heals, empowers and celebrates through peer counseling model

Celebrating Semana de La Lactancia Latina and the efforts of Lactancia Latina en el Suroeste de Kansas

Young, determined and capable: celebrating youth advocates within maternal child health

USBC’s Hispanic Heritage Month resources 

PAHO 



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Happy Asian American Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Breastfeeding Week 2024: Bridging the Gaps

National Breastfeeding Month is such a dynamic time of year on account of the weekly observances that honor unique cultures and voices within the wider realm of lactation and breastfeeding. 

This week, we celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Breastfeeding Week (August 15 to 21) with the theme Bridging the Gaps, in a call for advocacy around culturally tailored education and community-reflective lactation support. 

We’re revisiting a previous publication, as we did earlier this summer celebrating various national celebrations, in honor of AANHPI Breastfeeding Week. 

We hope you’ll enjoy this reworking of A collection of stories by and about those in the AANHPI community, which was originally published last summer. 

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The 2023 Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Breastfeeding Week Telling our own stories. Elevating our voices was rich with opportunities to engage, learn and celebrate. 

Gorgeous content from Asian, Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander (ASAP!) Breastfeeding Taskforce’s Social Media Toolkit 2023

As part of the observance, the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee AANHPI Caucus presented the AANHPI Lactation Community Forum, an open panel discussion where AANHPI community members shared about their journeys to becoming lactation support professionals as well as provided guidance on how we can further build community capacity to support AANHPI families.

The Alameda County’s Asian, Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander (ASAP!) Breastfeeding Taskforce AANHPI Social Media Toolkit produced shareable social media content including messages and captions in the toolkit which have been translated into 11 different AANHPI languages: Chinese (both traditional and simplified), Farsi, Hindi, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

It’s also become tradition to host the AANHPI Coloring Pages Contest. 

In an engaging discussion with Tonya Lang, MPH, CHES, IBCLC and Grace Yee in 2022, they described the diversity that exists under the AANHPI umbrella, shaking away the stereotypical idea that Asian culture is monolithic.

The Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence begins to describe the complexity of AAPNHPI groupings and the forces that shape identity in Census Date & API Identities. AAPI DATA, which provides demographic data and policy research on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, compiled some wonderful visuals to help shape the numbers.

The overgeneralization of the API community has led to some misleading data about breastfeeding rates. On an aggregate level, initiation and duration rates are relatively high, but the statistics don’t account for stark disparities within these population groups. This piece covers this phenomenon in more depth and offers strategies for tailoring infant feeding support in the Chinese American population.

More gorgeous content from Asian, Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander (ASAP!) Breastfeeding Taskforce’s Social Media Toolkit 2023

As Dr. Magda Peck has pointed out, numbers and data are important because they drive decisions and policies, but they also have the potential to sanitize humanity. That’s where stories come in. Not only do they humanize the numbers, they can also help us make sense of the data.

In an effort to demonstrate the complexity and diversity of this population, we have collected several stories by and about those in the AANHPI community.

First up, is To-wen Tseng and her contributions to the San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition’s blog. Tseng wrote most recently about her ‘why’ reflecting on National Breastfeeding Month. Read that piece here.

Joanne Datangel-Gallardo, MD, DPPS of the National Children’s Hospital, Philippines has worked extensively with relactation efforts. Read about Dr. Datangel-Gallardo’s work here.

Also out of the Philippines is a piece by Micaela Papa detailing how breastfeeding saved one baby’s  life and helped her mother recover from the stress of Typhoon Odette.

Not far south from this archipelago, is the island nation of Timor Leste. Here, emergency response efforts to protect breastfeeding have saved the lives of many. Community members manage and intercept artificial baby milk and other ultra-processed food product donations among other components of the nurturing care model. Read about these efforts here.

In Indonesia, efforts are also underway to combat commercial milk formula companies. Find a simple model for reporting Code violations here.

Jenny Lei Ravelo writes about the tangle of infant feeding complexities on Indonesia’s remote islands complete with stunning photos in partnership with the 1000 Days Fund.

In India, the Foundation for Mother & Child Health (FMCH) works to empower families from vulnerable communities with actionable information and services, resulting in health seeking behavior and nutritious food choices in order to tackle maternal child malnutrition, ultimately breaking the cycle of poverty. Read about the organization’s impact here.

And another beautiful collection from Asian, Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander (ASAP!) Breastfeeding Taskforce’s Social Media Toolkit 2023

In Spring 2023, the Asian Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Task Force(APIBTF) a part of Breastfeed LA, tailored the Dietary Guidelines for infants and toddlers for Chinese and Vietnamese communities, a project that augments APIBTF’s sister organization Alameda County’s Asian, Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander (ASAP!) Breastfeeding Taskforce’s Continuity of Care (CoC) Blueprint Project Prenatal Toolkit for AANHPI families. You can find out more about the efforts to center culture in health here.

Also exemplifying culture centered in health, is the Hmong Breastfeeding Initiative (HBI). With funding from Reducing Disparities in Breastfeeding through Continuity of Care Identifying Care Gaps grant from National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the Hmong Breastfeeding Coalition (HBC) conducted an environmental scan of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minn.) on breastfeeding promotion and support for child-bearing age Hmong women and families. Read more here.

Tiffany Pao Yang has played a crucial role in this work. The daughter of Hmong refugees, she is especially invested in helping change the narrative around infant feeding in the Hmong population. Read part of her story here.

 

MORE TO EXPLORE

  • Professionals who identify as AANHPI or work PRIMARILY with AANHPI communities in birthing or lactation, are invited to complete a 10 minute nationwide survey and share it with colleagues.

The AANHPI Lactation Collaborative seeks to compile and create a resource directory to share publicly on their website. Your answers will also help inform future projects focused on increasing access to lactation support and resources for AANHPI birthing people.

If you have completed this survey in the past, please only retake it if you need to update your responses.

Responses are confidential other than information voluntarily provided for the AANHPI resource directory.

To take the survey, go to: https://tinyurl.com/AANHPICollabSurvey

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Happy World Breastfeeding Week 2023: Making a difference for working parents

Logo by WABA

We’re abuzz with excitement for World Breastfeeding Week: Making a difference for working parents! This year’s theme is especially relevant in the U.S. with the recent passing of the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Yet, we remain one of the only countries with no paid family leave.

In celebration of the triumphs and in hopes of a better future paved by the hard work and passion of countless advocates, we’re looking back on Our Milky Way stories in the workplace.

  • The 2015 World Breastfeeding Week theme, Breastfeeding and Work Let’s Make it Work!, inspired Alyssa Sheedlo’s, RD LDN, CLC sharing of her story about providing milk for her triplets. Her story was originally published by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA). Read it here.
  • In a male dominated field, Alameda County Sergeant Misty Carausu blazed  trails for mothers working in law enforcement. Carausu was granted an initial three thousand dollar budget to renovate an existing lactation closet at the county jail. Read that story here.
  • Laura Westover PA-C, CLC, a provider at Castle Rock Pediatrics, dove into helping transform her office into a Breastfeeding-Friendly Employer and ultimate Breastfeeding- Friendly Medical Office.Westover worked alongside a  breastfeeding policy specialist to create their policies and lactation spaces through a six-point plan which includes policy, staff and provider training, patient education, environment, evaluation and sustainability, and continuity of care. Read the whole story here.
  • Learn about Zambian Investment Management and Banking Professional Musa Imakando-Mzumara’s perspective on breastfeeding and how it fits into the solution of national challenges here.
  • Look back on efforts by Scott Behson, PhD, creator of the Fathers, Work and Family (FWF) blog, to shape work policies here.
  • Passionate about breastfeeding support from both a personal and social standpoint, clinical researcher at the University of Colorado Dr. Bridget Young, PhD, CLC volunteered her time redesigning three lactation rooms and adding four newly designated lactation rooms at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Read about her efforts here.

 

We’d be honored to share your story about balancing employment and breastfeeding on Our Milky Way! Please email us at info@ourmilkyway.org with interest.

Cheers to a Happy World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month! Follow the WBW social media channels to stay up to date on all of the festivities @waba.wbw, @wabasecretariat, @waba_global and @wabasecr!

 

Helpful resources from A Better Balance and WorkLife Law:

Talking to your boss about your pump (Spanish)

Talking to your boss about your “bump”

 

#WBW2023​
#WABA ​
#breastfeeding​​
#SDGs​
#worldbreastfeedingweek2023 ​
#WarmChain ​
#buildingbackbetter ​
#EmpoweringParentsCampaign
#EnablingBreastfeeding
#MakingADifference
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Educate, motivate, normalize: one mom’s experience harnessing harassment into empowerment

Chenae Marie is an Author, Maternal Mental Health & Breastfeeding Advocate and Speaker.  In November 2018, she released a coloring book entitled Breastfeeding Mamas. The book was created in response to being ridiculed for breastfeeding.

She says it is an honor to see her work circulating. 

“This was such a purpose project for me and to see it still circulating 4 years later, wow,” Chenae Marie begins.  “You hope for the best, you hope people not only love it but deem it just as necessary as you; so seeing its impact has been so deeply rewarding.” 

Since its release, over 3,000 copies have been sold. 

Earlier this year, Chenae Marie was awarded the USBC Emerging Leader Award. 

We’re so thrilled to be sharing this interview with such a force on Our Milky Way! Read on. 

 

On Chenae Marie’s journey into motherhood…

Whew, where do I even begin? I found out I was pregnant during separation from my then husband. It was certainly a shock. We tried to work it out but the more we forced it, the more it became obvious that we were growing in two different directions. I ended up moving from New Orleans where we were living, back to my hometown of Baltimore, MD. It was imperative for me to be close to my village during such a profound life transition. It’s funny, because looking back I remember having so much anxiety prior to moving to MD. I wasn’t sure if it was nerves, or maybe the shock was still wearing down, or it was normal feelings to feel after finding out you are pregnant. But it’s like the moment that I touched down and hugged my mama, that deep sinking anxiety feeling went away. I finally felt safe again- emotionally and spiritually safe. My appetite came back, I was sleeping regularly and at a decent hour, and I was finally recognizing the woman looking back at me in the mirror. I missed her so much and it was a breath of fresh air to be in a space that I could get to know her again- prior to the arrival of my baby girl. 

Finally, the time had come for me to meet my Leilani Marie. It’s hard for me to even put into words how that first moment of looking into her eyes felt. It was like my world stopped for a moment and all I saw was her, all I felt was her, and I needed was her. If I could bottle that moment up, I certainly would. 

Now my journey had begun and all of who I was and all of who I had yet to become was ready to take on this journey called motherhood. 

 

On being ridiculed for a breastfeeding image she shared…

After noticing how underrepresented black women were as it pertains to motherhood and breastfeeding, I decided I’d start sharing images and partnering each one with either a clever little caption or a more thought-out caption detailing some of my thoughts and where I was on my motherhood journey at that time. 

One afternoon, I was eating ice cream while simultaneously breastfeeding and my mom snapped a picture of it. We were both wearing my handmade mustard yellow bonnets and we were in our own little world. I loved the picture and decided to share it. 

About an hour later I began to get what felt like nonstop notifications on my phone. I remember that I was putting my daughter down for a nap at the time so I placed my phone down away from me so the vibrations wouldn’t awake her. Finally, she was asleep, and I checked my phone. I was so confused because I saw an extremely large number of notifications and was so confused as to what was happening. Apparently, the picture went from Instagram to Twitter and then back to Instagram again. It went viral. 

From that day, I was getting hundreds of followers, hundreds of comments, and nonstop messages. Some of the comments and messages were full of love and support while others were full of negative comments, judgements, and unsolicited/obscene pictures. It’s like on one hand I felt supported and empowered but on the other hand, I was so incredibly bothered by the amount of ignorance I was reading on a day to day. 

I have always been someone who never let anyone make me feel inferior without my consent and this was one of those moments I had to take my power back. I took a long shower that involved lots of thinking and strategy. How can I take advantage of a moment that a lot of eyes were on me? How can I change the narrative? How can I use this moment to educate? 

Thus, the idea to create an adult coloring book!

 

On her partnership with the illustrator… 

Many are surprised when I tell them that I found my illustrator Mariana, on Upwork! I took a gamble and posted an ad describing my project and what I was looking for. She sent me some of her previous work and I knew she’d be the perfect fit! She was not only an incredible illustrator, but she completely understood my vision. 

 

On the feedback she’s gotten since the book’s release…

I’ve received great feedback since its release, but I’d have to say my favorite was when a mother told me she used my images to put on her wall during her at home water birth. She told me they were incredibly motivational and just what she needed to see to remind her of her strength. 

 

On receiving the USBC Emerging Leader Award…

It feels incredible! I haven’t met a single person in this industry who goes into it seeking rewards or recognition. You go into it because there is a fire burning in you for CHANGE! You go into it because you have a passion for women, for MOTHERS! So to be able to stop for a moment and truly reflect on my journey and also take a deep dive into all the work that has been done and still needs to be done, was beautiful and necessary. USBC does INCREDIBLE work, so to be recognized by them was honestly unexpected but an honor, nonetheless. Receiving this kind of award gave me that extra push I didn’t even know I needed to go harder. To keep having the uncomfortable but necessary conversations, and to keep pushing for change. 

 

On current projects…

I am working to step full force into speaking. I am currently working with Mississippi Public Health to organize monthly virtual workshops/panels to discuss motherhood, mental health, self-care, and wellness. My goal is to create a space for like-minded individuals to come together to share their experiences and have the “uncomfortable” conversations in hopes to inspire and educate others, specifically mothers.


On plans during National Breastfeeding Month/ Black and World Breastfeeding Week(s)…

I’m all about spreading knowledge! Knowledge is power. National Breastfeeding Month/ Black and World Breastfeeding week(s) is a great opportunity to shed as much information as possible while the spotlight shines on the subject.

 

On future goals…

As for future goals, I would like to create another project. I’m not sure what as of yet, but I want to think of another creative way to educate, motivate, and normalize. 

Find Chenae Marie on Instagram here. 

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USBC Deputy Director Amelia Psmythe Seger’s ‘The Four Pillars of Infant Nutrition Security in the United States’

Our headlines are overloaded with tragedy, perversion, inequities, the unthinkable yet preventable.

Journalist Mary Pilon says in Throughline’s Do Not Pass Go episode “It’s a shame to waste a crisis. A crisis can also be a moment when you look at things and make changes and improvements.”   

And so, from that vantage point, we are honored to be republishing United States Breastfeeding Committee Amelia Psmythe Seger’s piece The Four Pillars of Infant Nutrition Security in the United States originally published here last month. 

“We will get through this because we must. Together we must ensure we build an infant nutrition security system worthy of parent’s trust,” she writes. 

In celebration of World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month on the horizon, there’s no better time than now to take action.  #TogetherWeDoGreatThings

 

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The Four Pillars of Infant Nutrition Security in the United States by Amelia Psmythe Seger, Deputy Director USBC

Throughout its 22-year history, the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee has been working towards the policy, systems, and environmental changes that build a landscape of breastfeeding support.
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The catastrophic infant formula shortage demonstrates the value of this work and the need to build a robust infrastructure for infant nutrition security in the U.S. that holds all families in care.

This infrastructure includes four pillars: Parents, Programs, Policies, and a Plan for emergencies.

Parents:

Parents are critical stakeholders in infant nutrition security. The Parents pillar includes people of all races, genders, caregiving roles, routes to parenthood, immigration status, religious or political views, and infant feeding methods. Everyone who loves and cares for a young child belongs. Welcome.

Parents deserve the full support of a robust national infant nutrition security infrastructure. Without it, many are forced onto painful and difficult paths of infant feeding and care. The U.S. needs equitable programs, policies, and a plan for emergencies that centers on the most impacted.Parents and caregivers whose infants rely on formula are the highest priority right now. They need help finding formula, advice on switching between formulas, reassurance that reliable supplies are on the way, and an answer to the question: what should I feed my baby if I cannot find formula?  With appropriate caution, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published an article on what to feed babies of different ages and situations in an extreme emergency (such as this). Babies under six months should truly only consume human milk or infant formula. In considering very short-term alternatives, the stakes are so high that a physician should monitor the baby.

Parents who are breastfeeding or feeding human milk are in anguish right now, too. Many are feeling pressure to share their milk without acknowledgment of how hard this society has made it to establish and maintain milk supply. Few families have access to lactation support providers, paid family leave, and workplace accommodations to pump breast milk during the workday. In this context, many turn to formula as their backup plan, and it is very scary for them to see that their safety net is in tatters. To answer questions related to human milk, the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) published a guide. This ABM guide addresses pregnancy, low milk supply, re-lactation, options for donation or safe milk sharing, and healthcare guidance and training.
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Additional burdens or blame should never be placed on the families and caregivers whose hands are literally full of babies and toddlers. When capacity allows, however, the collective potential power of parents is significant. Consider if parents insisted on being at the table with the commercial milk formula industry, playing a role in ensuring industry quality, safety, and ethics. They are key stakeholders, after all, so this should be encouraged. Parents could also insist the U.S. enhance our nonprofit milk banking system to ensure an affordable, plentiful donor milk supply for medically fragile infants and those whose parents cannot or do not wish to breastfeed. This would diversify the infant food supply and provide parents with more options.

Programs:

Federal programmatic funding needs to be expanded considering setbacks caused by the pandemic, including the current infant formula shortage.

Federal funding supports quality improvement investments to implement maternity care best practices in hospitals, especially while recovering from pandemic-induced breakdowns in those settings.

Expansion of this funding supports state and community efforts to advance care coordination and strengthen lactation support through policy, systems, and environmental change interventions to reduce or eliminate breastfeeding disparities along the fault lines of income and race.

Federal investments enhance and deepen partnerships to integrate infant feeding and lactation support services into emergency response systems and food security programs during acute disasters and prolonged public health crises.
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This funding supports critical national monitoring and public reporting activities, including annual analysis of the National Immunization Survey (NIS), administration of the bi-annual Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) Survey, bi-annual production of the National Breastfeeding Report Card, and administration of the longitudinal Infant Feeding Practices Study. All of which is especially needed in light of recent updates to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which, for the first time, provides nutritional guidance for infants and toddlers.

Policies:

Due to major policy gaps, families face obstacles that make it difficult or impossible to start or continue breastfeeding. Policymakers must choose to prioritize the policies and investments for infant food security so that we never find ourselves in this situation again.

Critically needed policy solutions are waiting for Congressional action:

  • Establish a national paid family and medical leave program. The FAMILY Act (S. 248/H.R. 804) would ensure that families have time to recover from childbirth and establish a strong breastfeeding relationship before returning to work.
  • Ensure all breastfeeding workers have time and space to pump during the workday. The Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) Act (S. 1658/H.R. 3110) would close gaps in the Break Time for Nursing Mothers Law, giving 9 million more workers time and space to pump. Contact your legislators about the PUMP Act!
  • Invest in the CDC Hospitals Promoting Breastfeeding program by increasing funding to $20M in FY2023. This funding helps families start and continue breastfeeding through maternity care practice improvements and community and workplace support programs.
  • Create a formal plan for infant and young child feeding in emergencies. The DEMAND Act (S. 3601/H.R. 6555) would ensure the Federal Emergency Management Agency can better support access to lactation support and supplies during disasters. Contact your legislators about the DEMAND Act!

Additional areas for policy development

The U.S. has not regulated the marketing practices of the commercial milk formula industry, unlike 70% of the world, which has implemented at least some part of the WHO’s International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes. In the absence of regulation, these marketing practices are predatory.
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Diversify the nation’s production of infant formula. Plainly it is a mistake to allow 42% of the infant formula in this country to be produced not only by one company but by one factory of that company. Infant formula companies are part of an infant food security system, but we don’t have to be so dependent on that industry.Enhance the national network of nonprofit donor milk banks. Support innovative partnerships across existing structures, taking a cue from a national model such as what exists in Brazil. Consider: Red Cross has the infrastructure to support donor screening; WIC offices or community health clinics could be donor drop-off sites; more hospitals could provide space and equipment for donor milk processing and distribution, as some have done. Models exist to create an affordable and plentiful alternative to commercial milk formula when a parent’s own milk is not available.

Plan:

All nations should have a robust plan for infant and young child feeding in emergencies that includes three phases: preparedness, response, and resiliency. The USBC-Affiliated Infant & Young Child Feeding Constellation has published a Joint Statement on Infant & Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (IYCF-E) in the U.S. context.
Emergency preparedness includes building a lactation support provider directory and a system to track the inventory of national resources such as infant formula.Emergency response for infants, young children, and their families must include priority shelter, trauma-informed care, lactation support providers in every community; access to breast pumps, and milk storage and cleaning supplies; non-branded infant formula, clean water, bottles, and cleaning supplies.
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Emergency resilience includes trauma-informed care that centers on the needs of communities that have been historically undersupported, and disproportionately impacted in emergencies.

Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets. The insufficient system we’ve had, led to this crisis. It was predictable, and thus it was preventable.
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Now that there’s a mass mobilization of activity – from neighbors driving many miles to find spare formula tins, to the President invoking the defense production act – we must collectively build the resiliency to support a community during a flood, a region during a power outage, or a nation during a pandemic and supply chain crisis. We will get through this because we must. Together we must ensure we build an infant nutrition security system worthy of parent’s trust.
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