This is why perhaps the most important thing that those working in refugee
centres can to is to create safe spaces for mothers. I've pasted below a
section of an article from BFHI News Sept 1999 a bit that deals with this.
Karleen Gribble
Australia
Amid the scramble to provide adequate shelter and care in emergency
situations, the outline is emerging of an effective and low-cost
intervention: providing a safe place where mothers can rest, eat and receive
good advice about breastfeeding and nutrition. In the past, mothers may have
received some breastfeeding support at health centres, feeding centres or
hospitals, but care for their healthy children often got lost in services
for those who were severely ill or malnourished. "There is a need for
another level of care, specifically for mothers and their infants, separate
from the sick children," said Yvonne Grellety, Nutrition Adviser in
Emergencies for UNICEF. This involves rest and food, education and support
in a safe environment. Mothers who receive such care, she said, "are better
able to care for their babies." Two recent country examples attest to this.

Albanian camp provides support

In a refugee camp in Kukes (Albania), Anne Sophie Fournier, Technical
Director for Action contre la faim (Action against Hunger), observed how a
tent set up for washing babies and staffed by relief workers became an ad
hoc meeting place for breastfeeding support. "Women with infants found they
could take care of their older children while also consulting with advisers,
nurses and midwives about their breastfeeding concerns," she said.

Soon, each of the six camps in Kukes had a space set aside where mothers
could breastfeed and bathe their  children. This enhanced support for
breastfeeding, said Ms. Fournier, raised awareness of the indiscriminate use
of infant formula in the camps, and led to its regulation. A relactation
programme was started to help mothers who had used donated formula to resume
breastfeeding.


> Subject: relactating/pumping/bfing in shelters
>
> Considering the cramped quarters and lack of privacy in shelters for
Katrina
> victims, and the general anti-NIP attitude in the US, I suppose any mom
that
> is bfing or pumping is going to have a hard time finding privacy to be
> comfortable to continue.
>
> If she already was combining bfing & ffing  as many moms do (bottlefeeding
> when in public, with either pumped milk or formula, due to modesty
concerns)
> this situation would probably push her over the edge to formula feeding
> completely - especially if she sees lots of donated formula bfing
available?
>
> Janice Reynolds
>
>

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