Republic of the Philippines

NORTHERN NEGROS STATE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences
Barangay Rizal, Sagay City, Negros Occidental
(034)722-4120/www.nonescost.edu.ph

HENCM 121 (DISASTER NURSING)

Submitted by:
Mamon, Kate L.
BSN 4-B King

A.Y. 2022-2023
 Barriers and challenges of infant feeding in disasters in middle- and high-income

countries

Breastfeeding is the most cost-effective intervention to improve the health and

development of both children and women. A recent meta-analysis confirms previous findings

that breastfeeding protects children from infection mortality and morbidity, increases

intelligence, and reduces risk for diabetes. For mothers, breastfeeding can prevent breast

cancer, improve birth spacing, and may reduce risk for diabetes and ovarian cancer.

Global evidence confirmed that the protective effect of breastfeeding for infants is

particularly important during natural disasters and conflict settings. After the Bosnian

conflict, a study using cross-sectional household surveys from 1994 to 1997 revealed that

non-breastfed children were more likely to be malnourished. During the 2006 floods in

Botswana, infants hospitalized with diarrhea were 30 times more likely not to have been

breastfed compared with infants without diarrhea. After the 2006 earthquake in Indonesia, the

use of donated infant formula doubled the rates of diarrhea in young children compared with

those who had not received donated infant formula. In the aftermath of the 2005 Hurricane

Katrina that flooded the city of New Orleans in the United States, several infants died of

dehydration when food and water supplies ran out due to a fractured coordination of disaster

response.

Even in more developed middle-income (MICs) and high-income countries (HICs),

inadequate disaster response negatively impacts upon appropriate infant feeding practices,

leaving infants at risk of serious health and developmental consequences. This review aimed

to present key issues and concerns related to IFE in MICs and HICs during disaster response

focusing on 1) the challenges of IFE program implementation for responders, and 2) the

barriers to breastfeeding that mothers face during disasters.

Review of Related Literature

Infant Feeding After a Disaster

According to Cindy Calderon-study, Rodriguez's Lawrence Noble (2021), caring for

and feeding newborns and small children after any disaster is a top priority because of their

vulnerability and complete reliance on people for survival. All newborns should be breastfed,

and doing so in the aftermath of a disaster is frequently the safest option. Mothers' milk will

give babies the right nourishment throughout the first stage of recovery until more help

arrives, regardless of maternal dehydration, starvation, or inadequate food consumption.

Depending on the sort of disaster and the level of readiness for it, there will be different

difficulties and conditions after it.

Impact on Nutritional Status and Health of Children During Disaster

According to Sadeghloo et al. (2022), one of the most talked-about subjects of this

decade has been climate change, which is unquestionably having a huge impact on

biodiversity, climatic conditions, and human health. Despite the fact that climatic changes

have historically been thought of as a natural process, scientific study has shown that recent

climatic variations have exceeded the threshold of a natural process, signifying the evolution

of a process known as "global climate change." Knowing a population's burden of sickness

and how that burden is distributed among its various subpopulations is necessary to come up

with strategies to improve population health (such as women and infants). Calculations of

illness burden demonstrate the potential health advantages from specific safeguards against

specific risk factors. The processes allow for the prioritization of treatments and their focus

on the population segments that are most at risk. Over 178 million young children, or one in

three children under the age of five, live in underdeveloped nations and are stunted as a result
of ongoing malnutrition and poor diets. Starvation during a baby's first two years of life

typically results in serious harm.

Emergency preparedness for infant and young child feeding in emergencies

According to Karleen Gribble, Mary Paterson, and Decalie Brown (2019), despite

plans and recommendations frequently mentioning how beneficial it would be to have plans

that address infant and young child feeding in emergency situations, there was a lack of

planning for infants and young children's needs at all levels of government (IYCF-E). The

advice on heat waves may be damaging to young children. IYCF-E or kids in general were

not assigned to any federal, state, or territorial organizations. In stark contrast to this was the

scenario involving animals, for which there was significant planning at all levels of

government and defined organizational responsibility.

Infant and young child feeding during natural disasters

As stated by Mudiyanselage, S. R., Davis, D., Kurz, & Atchan. (2022) The frequency

and severity of natural disasters continue to rise as climate change gets worse. The physical

and mental health of vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women and young children, is

particularly impacted by these extreme weather occurrences. Poorly coordinated disaster

response can have a negative impact on newborn and young child feeding practices in both

high- and low-income nations.

Infant feeding experiences and concerns among caregivers early in the COVID-19 State

of Emergency in Nova Scotia, Canada

The global emergency caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has

impacted access to goods and services such as health care and social supports, but the impact

on infant feeding remains unclear. Thus, the objective of this study was to explore how
caregivers of infants under 6 months of age perceived changes to infant feeding and other

food and health-related matters during the COVID-19 State of Emergency in Nova Scotia,

Canada. Four weeks after the State of Emergency began, between 17 April and 15 May 2020,

caregivers completed this online survey, including the Perceived Stress Scale. Participants

(n = 335) were 99% female and mostly White (87%). Over half (60%) were breastfeeding,

and 71% had a household income over CAD$60,000. Most participants (77%) received

governmental parental benefits before the emergency, and 59% experienced no COVID-19-

related economic changes. Over three quarters of participants (77%) scored moderate levels

of perceived stress. Common themes of concern included social isolation, COVID-19

infection (both caregiver and infant), and a lack of access to goods, namely, human milk

substitutes (‘infant formula’), and services, including health care, lactation support, and social

supports. Most COVID-19-related information was sought from the internet and social

media, so for broad reach, future evidence-based information should be shared via online

platforms. Although participants were experiencing moderate self-perceived stress and shared

numerous concerns, very few COVID-19-related changes to infant feeding were reported,

and there were few differences by socio-economic status, likely due to a strong economic

safety net in this Canadian setting.

Breastfeeding is the most cost-effective intervention to improve the health and

development of both children and women. Global evidence has confirmed that breastfeeding

is particularly important during natural disasters and conflict settings. This review aims to

present key issues and concerns related to IFE program implementation for responders and

barriers to breastfeeding that mothers face during disasters.

References

Calderon-Rodriguez, C., & Noble, L. (2022c, January 1). Infant Feeding After a Disaster.

Elsevier eBooks; Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-323-68013-4.00023-7

Datar, A., Liu, J., Linnemayr, S., & Stecher, C. (2011). The impact of natural disasters on

child health and investments in rural India. Social Science & Medicine, 76, 83–91.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.10.008

Gribble, K. D., Peterson, M. A., & Brown, D. (2019). Emergency preparedness for infant and

young child feeding in emergencies (IYCF-E): an Australian audit of emergency

plans and guidance. BMC Public Health, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-

7528-0

Hwang, C. H., Iellamo, A., & Ververs, M. (2021b, August 23). Barriers and challenges of

infant feeding in disasters in middle- and high-income countries. International

Breastfeeding Journal; Springer Science+Business Media.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13006-021-00398-w

Mudiyanselage, S. R., Davis, D., Kurz, E., & Atchan, M. (2022b). Infant and young child

feeding during natural disasters: A systematic integrative literature review. Women

and Birth, 35(6), 524–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2021.12.006