Infant Feeding in Emergencies
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AN EFFECTIVE AND COHERENT INTERVENTION

Mother and Baby Tents are special shelters in refugee camps where mothers with children under
two years of age can find a safe and secure place to rest, eat and receive support.

	"With donor assistance, places where mothers can receive care and support can become a regular feature of emergency response programmes." BFHI News, UNICEF, 1999 , September /October

Dr Mirela Dibra, a paediatrician and member of IBFAN, shares her experiences of setting up with
UNICEF-Albania a nutrition counselling programme in Mother and Baby Tents (MBTs) in the refugee camps of Albania in 1999:

"In spite of the modest facilities, the arrangement and the decoration of the tent contributed to the comfort of the mothers and the babies. The tent was divided into separate areas: a change corner, counselling space, food for mothers, special care, and one with information on breastfeeding and child care in the local language. "

"One of our models was OXFAMs guidelines, ‘Infant feeding in emergencies’. Firstly we translated these guidelines into the local language. We then established a project proposal for UNICEF based on IBFANs ‘Crucial aspects of
infant feeding in emergency and relief situations’. This included: training, setting up and managing baby stations, editing leaflets, and working with the media. The two day training courses involved nurses and doctors from the
local as well as the refugee community and dealt with normal breastfeeding and breastfeeding in emergency situations. As we knew about MBTs but had no practical experience, we visited refugee camps before starting the training and performed an assessment of the situation. We then organised sessions to reach out directly to the camp populations."

Some of Mirela’s conclusions were:

• Experience showed that MBTs were successful and effective; probably the best strategy to support breastfeeding mothers and their babies.

• The outreach programmes, which we set up in certain camps where tents could not be set up, were also very effective.

• For agencies who want to implement the MBT: it is very important first to train the camp administrators, so that theyll be their best allies in implementation of the programme.

• The training module on infant feeding in emergencies (WHO/UNICEF/LINKAGES/IBFAN) will be a very useful tool. It is very important to train aid workers with basic skills to support breastfeeding, especially if they often come from non-breastfeeding cultures. 

	From left to right: Dr Mirela Dibra preparing the project with her team. The training group visiting a refugee camp. Sharing the knowledge: a breastfeeding course for refugees.

Training staff, including policy makers, programme managers, and field workers, is crucial. WHO, UNICEF, LINKAGES and IBFAN-GIFA, in close collaboration with the Emergency Nutrition Network, have developed short training modules on infant feeding in emergencies.

• Module 1 (available on-line), for policy makers, programme managers, and any category of emergency relief staff, which lasts 2 hours, aims to raise awareness about the issue of infant feeding in emergencies, and provide some basic information on best practice and existing policies. 

• Module II, for technical health and/or nutrition staff, as well as child carers, lasts 4 hours and aims to provide staff with some basic technical knowledge on infant feeding in emergencies, in order to ensure better practice.

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