>So I guess we just give them powdered formula from Nestle/Gerber and let
them reconstitute it with unsanitary water if they are lucky to find even
that....that sounds like a much better solution...OY!<
No ... we find them wet-nurses.  We train community health workers to teach
those who give birth AFTER the disaster to use the milk in their breasts to
feed their babies.  We help them to relactate and find LOCAL milk donors
(wet nurses) who can fill the 3-4 week gap while grandmothers, sisters,
aunts and others begin to lactate.  

Try to think about the logistics of using donor milk shipped from the USA.
It has to be transported by cold-chain logistics (refrigerated truck).  It
has to be stored in a refrigerator at the point of distribution.  It has to
transported to the mothers' homes (and many are luck to have so much as a
tent) by cold chain logistics (where would you find a cooler (an esky in
Australian) and dry-ice in Haiti?) where it must be stored in a
refrigerator.  Have a good look at the photos coming out of Haiti.  How do
the roads look to you?  Capable of bearing refrigerated transport to
distribution points?  Seen any refrigerated trucks?  Generators?  LPG
powered refrigeration?  Donor human milk sent from the US is a logistical
impossibility.

The reality is that many if not most of the infants who were not breastfed
before the disaster will die - especially those under 2 months old at the
time.  Their best chance of survival is if someone breastfeeds them.  And it
is vital that women who give birth in the wake of the disaster are supported
to breastfeed.  That doesn't mean asking them to choose breastfeeding.  It
means making it clear to them that there is no other option.

Nina Berry
Australia

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