In emergency situations, breastfeeding can save babies' lives.
Our focus in LLL Collective is to support families across Britain in their breastfeeding/human milk feeding journeys. The core values of LLLI include collaboration: “La Leche League cooperates with mothers, families, communities, and other organizations, through mutual support and accountability, to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding in accordance with the LLL Mission”. Globally LLL advocates for the right of all babies to have access to human milk, and so in this statement we draw attention to the desperate need for breastfeeding support in Gaza.
As the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA) takes place in Geneva, Switzerland, under the heading One World for Health, we recognise that war gets in the way of families nurturing their children, it interferes with breastfeeding and stops people accessing vital support. We therefore applaud the focus IBFAN has brought to the Assembly on the crisis in Gaza. In their recent statement they say “It is essential that maternal and child health care is provided to ensure safe deliveries, support for life-saving skin to skin contact, breastfeeding, wet nursing and re-lactation. Breastfeeding is a life-line for mothers and children that provides nurturing care while preventing infection and malnutrition in all its forms.”
The Scottish based organisation Gaza Infant Nutrition Alliance (GINA) are doing amazing work in raising awareness and supporting healthcare professionals to help mothers in Gaza. Since April 2024, they have trained a core team of 30 healthcare professionals in Gaza to become the ‘lactation support trainers’ for their colleagues. They have supported over 3000 mothers in their breastfeeding journeys. You can find more information about their work on their website, and you can donate to their work here. La Leche League Leaders around the world have a proud history of providing support in response to crises and emergency situations. From New Zealand to Ukraine and Greece, from the USA to Türkiye and Syria, LLL Leaders have been there when they are needed. As part of that tradition we are glad to support GINA in their incredible life-saving work, and to call for urgent action to be taken as a result of resolutions passed by the WHA on Gaza.
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