SAFE Team Vision
A resilient future where every infant and young child—regardless of crisis or circumstance—has access to safe, appropriate, and equitable nutrition. The SAFE Team envisions a world in which communities are equipped, empowered, and committed to protecting and supporting infant and young child feeding (IYCF) during emergencies by prioritizing human milk, community-centered response, and culturally responsive care.
The SAFE Team envisions a world in which communities large and small know and understand the importance of safe infant and young child feeding and care, know how to support safe infant and young child feeding and care in disasters, know and follow the best practice guidelines for safe infant and young child feeding and care in emergencies and can implement this knowledge into emergency preparedness and response planning. As a result, formula donations will decrease, breastfeeding support and rates will increase, families that truly need formula will have access to formula that has been properly stored and be armed with knowledge to prepare it safely for their infants and disaster response and planning will exist through a fully family-centered lens.
SAFE Team Mission
To ensure continuity of family-centered infant and young child feeding and optimal care in emergencies by building community capacity, advancing family friendly policies, and offering responsive and culturally competent support rooted in best practices. Through wide-scale education, collaborative partnerships, trauma-informed care, and community mobilization, the SAFE Team works to reduce infant morbidity and mortality in both large-scale disasters and everyday disruptions.
Step-by-Step Mapping of SAFE Team’s IYCF-E Work
Ten Steps to a Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community
| BFFC Step | SAFE Team IYCF-E Mapping |
| Step 1. Local Leadership Endorsement | Promote adoption of IYCF-E language and protocols in emergency preparedness proclamations, continuity of operations plans (COOP), and shelter policies. Partner with county and state emergency leaders to publicly support infant and young child feeding in disasters. |
| Step 2. Welcoming Atmosphere | Ensure shelters, relief sites, and community spaces display “Infant Feeding Friendly” signage and maintain a zero-tolerance policy for breastfeeding stigma during crises. Advocate for safe, private, and clean lactation spaces in all emergency shelters. |
| Step 3. Health Leadership Engagement | Collaborate with public health departments, WIC programs, and hospitals to include IYCF-E in emergency training protocols, position statements, and response plans. Encourage public health leaders to endorse WHO/UNICEF feeding guidelines during emergencies. |
| Step 4. Prenatal Education | Ensure emergency preparedness messaging includes information on the risks of formula use during disasters and promotes exclusive breastfeeding. Distribute non-commercial prenatal materials through public health, WIC, doula programs, and clinics. |
| Step 5. Breastfeeding-Friendly Healthcare | Partner with healthcare systems and shelter-based clinics to provide continuity of lactation care, especially for those in crisis or experiencing displacement. Support Baby-Friendly and trauma-informed care practices in disaster response. |
| Step 6. Lactation Services Availability | Deploy trained IBCLCs, peer counselors, and culturally aligned lactation supporters to shelters and affected communities. Provide telehealth support when in-person care is disrupted. Create and distribute feeding kits that reflect emergency conditions. |
| Step 7. Business and Organizational Support | Mobilize grocery stores, pharmacies, churches, and community organizations as trusted hubs for emergency feeding support, including diaper banks and breast pump charging stations. Recognize businesses that support families during crises with visible signs. |
| Step 8. WHO Code Compliance | Prevent formula marketing in shelters and emergency sites. Train staff to distribute only medically indicated infant formula with education on safe use. Provide breastfeeding-first education and resources at all formula distribution points. |
| Step 9. Workplace and Emergency Employment Protections | Advocate for lactation accommodations in disaster response workforces (shelter staff, first responders, mutual aid volunteers). Share toolkits to support lactating workers affected by disaster-related job changes or relocations. |
| Step 10. Education and Cultural Norming | Incorporate IYCF-E into emergency preparedness curricula at schools, childcare centers, universities, and parent education programs. Promote culturally relevant books, signage, and visuals that normalize breastfeeding in emergency and non-emergency settings. |