I've been listening to the BBC World Service's reporting on the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina in New Orleans. The conditions that many people have endured have been horrific and as time goes on we will hear just how many people died because they did not have their basic needs met. The most vulnerable, the very old and the very young will be over represented in deaths. There is also no doubt that many babies will have died because they had been prematurely weaned from breastfeeding and their mothers did not have the food or clean water that they needed for their babies. In contrast those mothers who were breastfeeding would have been able to safely feed their babies if they had sufficient resources to survive themselves.  Those who live in the developing world know that premature weaning can be life threatening but we who live in the developed world normally have the luxury of a stable supply of breastmilk substitutes, energy and health care that protects those babies who are prematurely weaned from death. It is a tragedy that so many babies will have died unnecessarily and that so many mothers will be grieving their loss. I cry with them but hope that we might learn from this that mothers need support and encouragement to breastfeed for indeed, one never knows, that their baby's life may depend upon it.

Karleen Gribble
Australia

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