During emergencies, risks associated with undernutrition increase, and child mortality can soar to up to 70 times higher than average. Infants and children are among the most vulnerable in times of crisis. Interrupted breastfeeding and inappropriate complementary feeding heighten the risk of undernutrition, illness, and mortality. This is compounded by environmental factors, including water, hygiene, and sanitation (WASH), misconceptions about breastfeeding, food insecurity, competing household needs, and psychological trauma that affects childcare practices.
Breastfeeding is the most cost-effective intervention to improve child survival, reduce morbidity and ensure proper growth and wellbeing. Early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive and continued breastfeeding protects children from acquiring infections. In all contexts, breastmilk lowers children’s risk of non-communicable diseases later in life. Breastfed children are found to perform better on intelligence tests, have higher school attendance, and have a higher income in adult life. Longer duration of breastfeeding also contributes to the health and well-being of the mothers, including reducing the risk of ovarian and breast cancers and helping to space pregnancies. The economic consequences of cognitive losses and the conservative estimates of reduced treatment costs suggest that the economic benefits for all countries promoting breastfeeding are likely substantial; the losses amount to $302 billion annually, or 0.49% of world GNI.
Emergencies or disasters shift all infants and young children and their caregivers into an “at risk” category by heightening the risk that breastfeeding will be reduced or ceased and by the increased risk emergencies and disasters pose to infants and young children who are not breastfed. Socially disadvantaged families are most exposed to harm from such events. Stress and fear may affect caregivers’ capacity to care for their children if they are not supported during a disaster. At the same time, food and water supplies may be insecure, and health infrastructure damaged. Yet protecting safe infant and young child feeding is often an afterthought in emergency preparedness and response.
Through the years, Member States have endorsed evidence-based protocols and guidance that calls for the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding, even during emergencies. Global health recommendations have emphasized the role that wet nursing, donor human milk, milk banking, and re-lactation may have in emergencies as a safer alternative when breastfeeding from the biological mother is not possible, even in contexts of high HIV prevalence.
To respect human rights, all humanitarian and relief workers and agencies are required to: “Uphold the provisions of the Operational Guidance on Infant and young child feeding in Emergencies (IFE) and the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions (collectively known as the Code)” in line with the 2018 Sphere Standards (The Sphere Project, 2018) that aims at protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding infants and young children (IYC) as well as those who are not-breastfeeding and depend on breastmilk substitutes.
The Research Topic aims at inviting researchers and field practitioners to submit relevant articles to illustrate how the recommendation of the IYCF-E operational guidance and the sphere standards are implemented in relation to the support and management of non-breastfed infants. The editors are particularly interested in highlighting experiences, lessons learned, and recommendations that are borne from the implementation of the above guidance and standards aimed at supporting infants that are unable to be breastfed by their mother, including those who are wet nursing, re-lactation, human donor milk, milk banking and as a last resort commercial milk formula (CMF) feeding. The IYCF-E Operational Guidance recommends that in emergencies all humanitarian and relief workers need to intervene to protect and support infants and children who are not breastfed to meet nutritional needs and minimize risks.
The goal of this Research Topic is to compile state-of-the-art research that illustrates experiences and interventions in humanitarian, fragile, or development contexts that were carried out to support non-breastfed infants by implementing one of the recommendations for safer alternatives to maternal breastfeeding in line with the WHO/UNICEF Global IYCF Strategy,2002 and the IYCF-E Operational Guidance, 2017.
The research series provides an opportunity for authors to submit research papers that present how the WHO/IYCF and the Infant Feeding in Emergencies Core Group Recommendations are being implemented in humanitarian and fragile contexts. The following are the specific themes that we would like to solicit from the potential authors:
1. Wet nursing in a humanitarian, fragile and development context: experiences, lessons learned and recommendations.
2. Re-lactation in humanitarian, fragile and development contexts: experiences, lessons learned, and recommendations.
3. Human donor milk in humanitarian, fragile and development contexts: experience, lessons learned, and recommendations.
4. Human milk banks for newborns and non-breastfed infants during disasters and emergencies.
5. The last resort: infant formula feeding for formula-dependent infants and emergency and fragile environments: How did it work? What did we learn, and what are the recommendations?
Keywords:
infant feeding in emergencies, IYCF-E, breastfeeding in emergencies, wet nursing, relactation, donor human milk, milk banking, formula feeding
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
During emergencies, risks associated with undernutrition increase, and child mortality can soar to up to 70 times higher than average. Infants and children are among the most vulnerable in times of crisis. Interrupted breastfeeding and inappropriate complementary feeding heighten the risk of undernutrition, illness, and mortality. This is compounded by environmental factors, including water, hygiene, and sanitation (WASH), misconceptions about breastfeeding, food insecurity, competing household needs, and psychological trauma that affects childcare practices.
Breastfeeding is the most cost-effective intervention to improve child survival, reduce morbidity and ensure proper growth and wellbeing. Early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive and continued breastfeeding protects children from acquiring infections. In all contexts, breastmilk lowers children’s risk of non-communicable diseases later in life. Breastfed children are found to perform better on intelligence tests, have higher school attendance, and have a higher income in adult life. Longer duration of breastfeeding also contributes to the health and well-being of the mothers, including reducing the risk of ovarian and breast cancers and helping to space pregnancies. The economic consequences of cognitive losses and the conservative estimates of reduced treatment costs suggest that the economic benefits for all countries promoting breastfeeding are likely substantial; the losses amount to $302 billion annually, or 0.49% of world GNI.
Emergencies or disasters shift all infants and young children and their caregivers into an “at risk” category by heightening the risk that breastfeeding will be reduced or ceased and by the increased risk emergencies and disasters pose to infants and young children who are not breastfed. Socially disadvantaged families are most exposed to harm from such events. Stress and fear may affect caregivers’ capacity to care for their children if they are not supported during a disaster. At the same time, food and water supplies may be insecure, and health infrastructure damaged. Yet protecting safe infant and young child feeding is often an afterthought in emergency preparedness and response.
Through the years, Member States have endorsed evidence-based protocols and guidance that calls for the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding, even during emergencies. Global health recommendations have emphasized the role that wet nursing, donor human milk, milk banking, and re-lactation may have in emergencies as a safer alternative when breastfeeding from the biological mother is not possible, even in contexts of high HIV prevalence.
To respect human rights, all humanitarian and relief workers and agencies are required to: “Uphold the provisions of the Operational Guidance on Infant and young child feeding in Emergencies (IFE) and the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions (collectively known as the Code)” in line with the 2018 Sphere Standards (The Sphere Project, 2018) that aims at protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding infants and young children (IYC) as well as those who are not-breastfeeding and depend on breastmilk substitutes.
The Research Topic aims at inviting researchers and field practitioners to submit relevant articles to illustrate how the recommendation of the IYCF-E operational guidance and the sphere standards are implemented in relation to the support and management of non-breastfed infants. The editors are particularly interested in highlighting experiences, lessons learned, and recommendations that are borne from the implementation of the above guidance and standards aimed at supporting infants that are unable to be breastfed by their mother, including those who are wet nursing, re-lactation, human donor milk, milk banking and as a last resort commercial milk formula (CMF) feeding. The IYCF-E Operational Guidance recommends that in emergencies all humanitarian and relief workers need to intervene to protect and support infants and children who are not breastfed to meet nutritional needs and minimize risks.
The goal of this Research Topic is to compile state-of-the-art research that illustrates experiences and interventions in humanitarian, fragile, or development contexts that were carried out to support non-breastfed infants by implementing one of the recommendations for safer alternatives to maternal breastfeeding in line with the WHO/UNICEF Global IYCF Strategy,2002 and the IYCF-E Operational Guidance, 2017.
The research series provides an opportunity for authors to submit research papers that present how the WHO/IYCF and the Infant Feeding in Emergencies Core Group Recommendations are being implemented in humanitarian and fragile contexts. The following are the specific themes that we would like to solicit from the potential authors:
1. Wet nursing in a humanitarian, fragile and development context: experiences, lessons learned and recommendations.
2. Re-lactation in humanitarian, fragile and development contexts: experiences, lessons learned, and recommendations.
3. Human donor milk in humanitarian, fragile and development contexts: experience, lessons learned, and recommendations.
4. Human milk banks for newborns and non-breastfed infants during disasters and emergencies.
5. The last resort: infant formula feeding for formula-dependent infants and emergency and fragile environments: How did it work? What did we learn, and what are the recommendations?
Keywords:
infant feeding in emergencies, IYCF-E, breastfeeding in emergencies, wet nursing, relactation, donor human milk, milk banking, formula feeding
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.