Supporting Breastfeeding Women Amid Natural Disasters in the US: A Scoping Review

Mothers, particularly those who are breastfeeding, as well as their babies are often overlooked populations during natural disasters. Still, the ever-growing frequency and severity of natural disasters in the United States (US) have increased the likelihood that a breastfeeding family will experience a natural disaster. In 2019, 83% of all newborns received breastmilk, and 84% of Americans lived in an area that recently experienced a natural disaster. This scoping review aimed to identify ways to support breastfeeding women, infants, and young children during a natural disaster.

A search was performed using Embase, Scopus, PubMed, and CINHAL databases to identify articles published in the English language from September 2005-September 2023 according to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). Each article was chosen based on noted inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were extracted per the pre-prepared protocol.

Ten articles were selected for the scoping review, examining key characteristics and recommendations. The authors of the included articles used varying approaches to present the information, and differing approaches to supporting breastfeeding during disasters were observed. Only 3 of the 10 articles were research studies, 3 were editorials, 2 were program descriptions or evaluations, 1 was an education article, and 1 was a report. All articles addressed women, pregnant or postpartum women, infants, and/or young children. All articles addressed hurricanes, and 1 article addressed 2 disasters: a winter storm and a hurricane.

Recommendations include the adoption of breastfeeding women, infants, and young children in disaster plans as a special population with unique needs, integration of breastfeeding support into disaster plans, and training disaster workers to support breastfeeding during disasters.