Support & Advocacy for Feeding in Emergencies Team
The SAFE Infant Feeding Team is a project of Breastfeeding Family Friendly Communities (BFFC) and represents one component of our broader systems-based work.
Breastfeeding Family Friendly Communities partners with coalitions and health departments to implement the Ten Steps to a Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community. The SAFE Team’s national work addressing the policy gap in Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (IYCF-E) is a natural extension of that framework.
We believe that communities prepared for disaster are communities where breastfeeding is already protected, normalized, and structurally supported.
Why the SAFE Team Exists
In the United States, infant feeding is rarely embedded into emergency preparedness infrastructure. During disasters, families with infants face immediate risks:
- Unsafe water for formula preparation
- Power outages affecting milk storage
- Supply chain disruptions
- Shelter environments not designed for infant feeding
- Lack of lactation support
Following disaster response efforts beginning in late 2024, we identified a significant national policy and coordination gap in IYCF-E. The SAFE Team was formed to address that gap through coalition support, policy development, and systems change.
Two Levels of Emergency Work
Our work operates at two levels:
1. Macro-Emergencies
The SAFE Team supports coalitions and public health partners during large-scale disasters such as hurricanes, floods, and other federally declared emergencies. We provide technical assistance, rapid needs assessment guidance, sanitation protocol education, and coalition coordination support.
2. Micro-Emergencies
Across our 20 municipality-based breastfeeding coalitions, we integrate a “micro-emergency” lens into everyday community conditions:
- Housing instability
- Water insecurity
- Utility shutoffs
- Economic stress
- Transportation barriers
Families living in chronic instability are already navigating emergency conditions. Preparing communities for disaster means addressing these realities before crisis escalates.
Durham Pilot: Building Resilience Before Disaster
In Durham, North Carolina, we are piloting micro-emergency preparedness within Housing Authority communities. In partnership with Black women leaders and the North Carolina Diaper Bank, we are building resilience among families who face questionable water conditions and resource instability on a daily basis.
This work strengthens family-level preparedness and reduces vulnerability long before a federally declared disaster occurs.
Closing the National Policy Gap
The SAFE Team focuses on embedding infant feeding protection into:
- County emergency plans
- Public health preparedness frameworks
- Coalition infrastructure
- Local implementation of the Ten Steps
Emergency preparedness is not separate from breastfeeding systems-building. It is an extension of it.
When breastfeeding thrives in everyday community life, infants are safer during disaster.
Our Vision
A future where infant feeding protection is embedded in community infrastructure — not activated only after disaster strikes.