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Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is an emergency the magnitude of which has not been encountered for a century. The World Health Organization (WHO) classified the spread of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. It constitutes an emergency because of the widespread morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 (the disease caused by the virus) and its accompanying economic and social impact (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2016). Emergencies are recognized in the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)/WHO Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding as one of the “exceptionally difficult circumstances”(UNICEF & WHO, 2003, p. 11) where special attention should be given to supporting breastfeeding. Unfortunately, variable support for breastfeeding and the mother–infant dyad are contained in policies and guidance developed in …