The money raised will help fund World Breastfeeding Week Celebration Grants to support the important work La Leche League Leaders do in the United States. So visit the “LLL USA page” on eBay. LLL USA reports that some items to be auctioned throughout the next several days include an Ergo baby carrier, a Glamourmom ® Nursing Bra Tank, and an assortment of historical transcripts from early LLLI conferences. Be sure to check back often and get your bids in!

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Simply right click on the image, “save image as” to your computer, upload it to your site and link it to the World Breastfeeding Week page at LLL USA.

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Your thoughts?

What does the theme “Breastfeeding: Prepared for Life” bring to mind for you? Have you begun planning for WBW 2009? What are your ideas for an event? (Stumped? Check out these Ideas for Successful World Breastfeeding Week Fundraisers and Events.)

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Unfortunately breastfeeding in emergencies applies not only to natural disasters but to acts of war, as demonstrated by this quote from the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA):

If you are concerned for the health and well-being of children in Gaza, “Do not send donations of infant formula, bottles or milk products to Gaza”, say top emergency nutritionists. A leading group of nutrition experts, including the World Health Organization, UN Children’s Fund and NGOs, in a media brief published in English, Arabic and Spanish, state that the “indiscriminate use of infant formula in an emergency is extremely dangerous to babies, causing illness and death” According to the Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emegergies (IFE Core Group), “there is no need to send for donations of infant formula, powdered milk or baby bottles to be sent to the site of an emergency.” – Reuters AlertNet – London, England, UK

Why is it so dangerous to send infant formula in emergency relief supplies? A guide for Protecting Infants in Emergencies explains:

Babies have specific nutritional needs and are born with an undeveloped immune system. For infants who are breastfed, breastmilk provides both food and immune support, which protects them from the worst of emergency conditions. However, the situation is very different for babies who are not breastfed. In an emergency, food supplies are disrupted, there may be no clean water with which to make up infant formula or to clean feeding implements and the health care system is stretched past breaking point. This means that babies who are not breastfed are vulnerable to infection and to developing diarrhoea. Babies with diarrhoea easily become malnourished and dehydrated and so are at real risk of death.

The guide gives an example of just how deadly infant formula can be in an emergency. One study found that of the over 500 infant deaths associated with flooding in Botswana in 2005 and 2006, nearly all of the babies who died were formula fed, and the risk of hospitalization was 50 times greater for infants who were not breastfed compared to infants who were breastfed.

For more information, visit the Emergency Nutrition Network. And start your planning for World Breastfeeding Week 2009 this coming August 1-7!

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