IYCF-E Support for Small Organizations

Suggestions for Supporting Infant and Young Child Feeding in an Emergency

Disaster and emergency response and recovery is challenging for everyone, but small organizations often face special challenges. While larger organizations have an easier time getting attention, volunteers, and resources, smaller organizations may find their staff and resources stretched even thinner, while some of their usual sources of support are out of operation temporarily or diverted elsewhere.

Here are ideas for what you can do to support the people you serve in these situations — including micro-emergencies — specifically regarding infant and young child feeding.

These ideas apply to:

• Individual perinatal or lactation professionals (CBEs, doulas, IBCLCs, LCs, and others)
• Individual public health providers (WIC and similar)
• Small organizations that serve caregivers of, or families with, children under 3
• Anyone who works with pregnancy, postpartum, or infants and toddlers

Discover Needs

Depending on how closely you work with the people you serve, you may already know many of their needs. Because the situation in a disaster changes rapidly, check in with them again. If you don’t already have a similar assessment, use the CDC Rapid Needs Assessment or the SAFE Conversational Field Assessment. If you do have your own assessment, integrate questions from the SAFE Field Assessment to ensure that you uncover needs in any of the areas below.

• Where are they living right now?
• Do they have a safe play or daytime area for their child or children?
• Do they have any privacy?
• Do they have a safe sleep space for their children? (Shelter cots are not safe for babies or most toddlers.)
• Can they access food when they or their child is hungry?

• What is their water situation? Is there tap water, are they using a well, or do they need to get bottled water?
• If tap water, is it safe to drink?
• Is there a boil water advisory? Can they boil water easily with what they have?
• If a well, are they in an impact area? Has the well been tested?
• How are families being educated about safe drinking water, cleaning feeding equipment, and similar topics?

• Do they have consistent access to electricity?
• Do they have access to refrigeration for human milk or prepared formula storage?
• If they use a pump, are they able to plug it in or charge it reliably?
• Is the place they are currently residing temperature-controlled?

Infant Feeding Needs

• How are they feeding their baby or young child — breastfeeding, bottle feeding, formula feeding, mixed feeding? Are their usual local resources available and functioning?
• How are they cleaning any equipment they are using?
• Do they have a place to clean infant feeding items other than a bathroom sink?
• Is lactation support available?
• If pumping, do they have a clean pump, empty storage bags, and the ability to clean parts?

Educate Families

• Make sure they know how to clean infant and young child feeding items in their current situation. The SAFE visual handout booklet is available at safeinfantfeeding.org and may be distributed. Contact info@safeinfantfeeding.org about co-branding it with your contact information.
• If safe water is unreliable, make sure they know how to make water safe to drink.
• If formula feeding or mixed feeding, ensure that they know:
• How to mix formula properly, especially when safe water is unreliable.
• To check expiration dates and discard formula that is past date.
• How to store formula properly — no extreme temperatures, kept clean.
• Alternate brands and types they can use that are equivalent to their current formula.
• If needed or desired, refer to lactation support, including WIC (if operating), lactation professionals in [YOUR REGION], your [YOUR STATE] breastfeeding coalition, or a breastfeeding hotline.

Try to Partner with Other On-the-Ground Organizations

Disaster response organizations and large local groups can provide a lot of support during emergency situations. Finding ones you can partner with or refer to will help you support the people you serve better. When supporting micro-emergencies, resource organizations may be harder to find, but they do exist. Food banks and crisis centers are good places to look for help or for referrals to other resources.

As you find active organizations that can help, maintain a resource list so you can develop relationships and make referrals more quickly.

Start With

In a significant disaster, many of these groups will usually deploy to the area.

• American Red Cross — shelter, health, food, bathing
• FEMA — immediately: supplies, search and rescue, access. Long term: funding, subject to an application process.
• Other large national organizations and VOADs (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) that have deployed to the area, including national disaster relief nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and child-focused relief organizations.

Medical Support

• American Red Cross
• Emergency response logistics organizations, if deployed
• Other field hospitals

Infant and Young Child Feeding Supplies

(Formula, bottles, pumps, cleaning supplies — in addition to the groups above.)

• WIC, if local offices are open
• Local church or community distribution sites
• Pediatric offices

Other Infant and Young Child Feeding Needs

(Education, feeding and lactation support.)

• Local lactation professionals (LC, IBCLC, and others)
• Your state or local breastfeeding coalition
• Perinatal professionals such as midwives, doulas, and neonatal nurses

Other Needs

• Large distribution sites can provide for many needs, such as diapers, clothing, non-perishable food, and often larger items. The more specific or larger the item you need, the larger or more specialized the distribution site tends to need to be to have it.
• Car seats — best to find your local child passenger safety organization.
• Financial support (bills, rent, and similar) is typically harder to find and is unique to each area. FEMA provides some funding, but it is often delayed.

How the SAFE Team Can Help

The SAFE Team wants to help. We can provide:

• Information and advice on how to support safer infant and young child feeding after a disaster, including:
• Using the rapid needs assessment
• Determining the amount of need
• Supporting distribution sites in safer practices

You can learn more about these topics in our comprehensive Nourishing Resilience training series, available online at safeinfantfeeding.org, or we can provide customized training.

• Educational handouts you can distribute to caregivers of infants and young children. Most handouts are available in English and Spanish. See safeinfantfeeding.org:
• Making water safe to drink
• Safely cleaning infant and young child feeding equipment
• Cup feeding and hand expression
• Safe storage guidelines for formula and human milk
• How to make your own cold sanitation kit

• Training in how to run your own on-the-ground operations.
• In some situations, cold sanitation kits for distribution.
• If a significant disaster occurs, we may be able to put out a call for volunteer support.
• If a significant disaster occurs, we may be able to support you in running on-the-ground operations to support safer infant and young child feeding.

Contact us at info@safeinfantfeeding.org.

Rapid Needs Assessment Tools

Tool	Where to find it
CDC Rapid Needs Assessment Intake Form (IYCF-E)	cdc.gov — Nutrition, Emergencies and Infant Feeding
SAFE Conversational Rapid Needs Assessment	safeinfantfeeding.org