This reminded me of an article I read a few years ago by a  
pediatrician in Biloxi, Mississippi, about his experiences right after  
Hurricane Katrina. While his efforts to treat patients in the wake the  
of disaster were certainly heroic, and I don't want to belittle them,  
I was bothered by the following paragraph:

"I decided to split the limited supplies of formula into 2 parts: 1  
for the nursery and 1 for the anticipated needs of outpatients and the  
community. Because safe drinking water to mix with the formula would  
be a long time coming, it was truly an optimum time to discharge all  
infants on breast milk. Even after lengthy discussions of the benefits  
of breastfeeding, especially now, mothers of the first 3 newborns  
chose to use formula. Even in a natural disaster with no running  
water, some moms still will not be motivated to breastfeed. So, we  
discharged these infants with formula and disposable nipples."

Surely this was the time to emphasize the *danger* of using formula  
without safe drinking water, rather than the "benefits of  
breastfeeding"? Of course, it is possible that he did talk about the  
danger, but either he or his editor simply summarized the discussions  
using the familiar phrase "benefits of breastfeeding." But you have to  
wonder.

Full article here:
http://tinyurl.com/krlon6 (the quoted paragraph is from the section  
"August 30: 1 Day After Landfall")

Jennifer

On Jul 21, 2009, at 5:59 AM, Karleen Gribble wrote:

> But you'd reckon that they could get past the breastfeeding is best  
> rhetoric and say straight out that formula feeding in dangerous in  
> an emergency wouldn't you?
>
> Those of you putting together press releases for WBW might like to  
> include info on what parents who are formula feeding should store in  
> prep for emergencies
> These are: extra formula, 3L of extra water per feed (ie about 24L  
> per day for making up the formula, cleaning utensils and hands),  
> detergent for washing, a stove for boiling water for constituting  
> feeds and cleaning, fuel for the stove, a kettle and pot for boiling  
> water and a cleanable storage and preparation area (like a large  
> plastic box).
>
> http://www.kypost.com/content/news/859/story/Health-Officials-Encourage-Breatfeeding-During/1l7QVEN7BEScc36L753D6g.cspx
>
> Karleen Gribble
> Australia

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