Talk about bringing back memories!  I was here in Miami for our infamous
Hurricane Andrew, and several of us LLL Leaders (including Heidi Lunn btw,
who herself lost her home in the storm & was nursing a little one!) *tried*
to do something constructive re:breastfeeding in the aftermath.  We took our
donations from other League members around the country and bought copies of
the WAB (Womanly Art of Bfing), then took ourselves to the tent cities to
hand them out (among other places; we gave classes as well).  We were met
with tent-loads of formula being given out :-(  Breastfeeding wasn't even a
consideration.  Wasn't mentioned.  Was a NON-issue.

I will never fathom the "wisdom" of giving women with NO electricity, no
home, and only limited amounts of (donated or bottled) water ABM instead of
breastfeeding help!  I can see that of course for women that are already
past the point of being able to relactate, that have been feeding
artificially for months.  But the new mommies?

I learned a big lesson then, courtesy of Andrew:  if you want women to
breastfeed in the aftermath of such a crisis, you need to make breastfeeding
as much the "norm" as possible BEFORE the crisis, when things are "normal",
because the last thing a woman wants to do when her life has been turned
upside down is learn how to do something she's never done before, never seen
*positively* before, and that feels as abnormal to *her* as the fact that
she now has no home........
Regina Roig Lane BS IBCLC for Miami-Dade County WIC/Nutrition
> -----Original Message-----
> Now I am preparing for the onslaught of bfing problems associated with all
> the births that occur with a hurricane. Usually there are many premies and
> many pump calls.
>
> Barb Whitehead, IBCLC
> Ayden NC

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