Hi Molly,
Good on your husband (my husband is also a paramedic and has gotten really
good at facilitating skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding in emergency
births he's been a part of)....anyway, relactation is theoretically very,
very simple...I've often thought that it would be worth getting a bumper
sticker with the following "Relactation: babies suck, mum makes milk!"
because that is essentially it and if you've got a situation where a baby is
willing to suckle at the breast it really is pretty easy. The practicalities
can be a bit trickier however and I echo Heleen's suggestion of the
Emergency Nutrition Network's modules. I recently wrote a paper on infant
feeding post-2004 Tsunami (just been accepted by a journal) and had a pretty
good look at the literature and these modules were a stand out in terms of
what they covered and the quality of the information. I think that one of
the really important things that they talk about it the idea of creating
"safe spaces" in places where you have a group of refugees for breastfeeding
mothers and those who are relactating. In this way "ordinary" breastfeeding
mothers are being supported and those who are relactating have the support
of the other breastfeeding mothers as well as staff.

Relactation can work regardless of the age of the child (Lactnet member
Virginia Thorley published a case series some years ago of relactation in
cases where the child was 1 year or older) or the gap in lactation (so
grandmothers or aunts, basically anyone can relactate if necessary).

Emily suggested "The Australian Breastfeeding Association has a booklet,
"Relactation and
Adoptive Breastfeeding" " That's my baby! but it's not really written for an
audience dealing with an emergency situation, though because it's written
for mothers to read it might be helpful however, given a choice the WHO
booklet on infant feeding in emergency situations
http://www.euro.who.int/document/e56303.pdf , also written for mothers,
would be better. The only thing that the ABA booklet has that the WHO
booklet doesn't is some ideas for getting an older baby who is reluctant to
breastfeed to suckle.

There really is a wealth of information on this subject from very well
respected resources. If your husband is in the situation where he can help
mothers with this then good on him!!! Please let us know how it goes.

BTW, if anyone does know of someone assisting people with relactation during
this emergency, please see if they can get media coverage for it! and keep
notes so that it can be written up for a professional journal!! We really
need to get the information out, there's lots about emergency situations in
the developing world where relactation has been applied but nothing at all
from the developed world. If anyone does have a journo interested and they
want to speak to someone with letters after there name and an academic
address I'm happy to speak to them.

Karleen Gribble
Australia

This is the best thing I found for you:
http://www.ennonline.net/ife/module2/m2pdf/m2additional.pdf
It addresses relactation and 'when infants are not breastfed'


> I have been lurking on Lactnet for a year or so. I am a new breastfeeding
> counselor working in California. My husband is a firefighter and a
paramedic
> and will be going to New Orleans in a week or so with a group of volunteer
> paramedics.
>
> He does not know what he will be doing there, nor what patients he will
see.
> He wants to be able to talk to mothers about relactation AND, if possible,
> would like to be able to educate his colleagues about relactation.
>
> I don't feel competent to put together a quick set of accurate guidelines
> for him. Is even possible to quickly educate a group of allied health
> professionals from scratch?? Of course, we wouldn't want to do more harm
> than good!
>
> Does anyone know of anything prepared, or could someone help me put
> something together?
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Molly Brannigan
>

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