Concerns about our ongoing infant formula shortage

I was inspired to write this blog post today due to something that happened today.

Our hospital usually has infant formula on recurrent order and it has been on backlog for over a month now.

We had 1 sachet of infant formula for the whole hospital, so I had to go to the supermarket to get some formula for our hospital.....

We all know that we have a major shortage of infant formula due to the demands from China...we also know that parents are restricted in the quantities of infant formula that they are able to purchase.

What shocks me is the the price increase of infant formula - you can pay anywhere from $15 to $40 for standard infant formula which is given to infants under 12 months of age. If you have an infant under the age of 6 months, it is likely that you will need to use 2 tins of infant formula per week, therefore approximately $30-$80 per week!

As a health care professional, this really concerns me for several reasons:

1. Most of us are financially struggling and relying on our weekly income and these added costs are just not needed
2. Most mothers in Australian feed their infants infant formula
3. Breastfeeding is the best form of feeding your baby not only for the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies, but also due to low cost as well

I pose a few of my concerns:

1. Are these infant formula shortages going to get worse and what is the potential impact of this on our mothers, babies and their families?
2. Will these high prices make it barely affordable to purchase infant formula?
3. Will infant formula prices increase even further?
4. Does this mean that infants are at risk because the formula is becoming so expensive that it needs to be diluted to make that tin last a little bit longer?
5. Public breastfeeding support services are financially strained and rather resource poor.  So instead of a breastfeeding mum getting into a clinic within 2-3 days, the wait is usually 2 weeks or longer.  Worse still, you may even need to share your time with up to 20 other mums struggling to breastfeed in a drop in clinic.

I pose a few questions to those reading this blog post?

1. If we are resource poor for infant formula, what can we do to prevent this from getting worse?
2. Is this issue going to get worse or improve?

• I am keen to hear your feedback about these issues
• I am as equally keen to alert you to this issue if you didn't already know about it
• If you are planning on breastfeeding or struggling to breastfeed your baby and almost ready to switch to infant formula because you are over the stress of it all....PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE see a lactation consultant to help you out so you are less likely to lead down your unintentional path
• Breastfeeding support can be attained via your maternal & child health nurse, your hospital of birth, the Australian Breastfeeding Association Helpline or a private lactation consultant via the Lactation Consultants of Australian & New Zealand directory
• If you are struggling to get breastfeeding support and need the help of a private lactation consultant, don't be afraid to ask us for a discount or a payment plan if you are finding it difficult to pay $200 for an appointment (of which you are likely to need 1 appointment anyway)  Compare $200 for a lactation consultant versus $60-$320 per month on infant formula, its a no brainer, I would rather invest my $$ if I needed to, to access professional breastfeeding support

By the way, I may be seen as being biased about breastfeeding but this is NOT my intention

It is not about the "breastfeeding VERSUS formula feeding" debate
It is an infant, maternal, family health & wellbeing issue......

I am keen to hear your thoughts about this?

If you feel that the information in blog post may be helpful to others, please share....