By: Dr. Riffat Sadiq

According to the CDC, breastfeeding has many known health benefits for infants, children, and mothers and is a key strategy to improve public health. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends infants are exclusively breastfed for about the first 6 months with continued breastfeeding while introducing complementary foods for at least 1 year.

Even though the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding your infant for the first six months this is not always an available option for all parents whether for health reasons, working hours, nursing issues, or adoptive parents.

In an article by Martine Paris published in The Washington Post “By six months, only a quarter of babies in the US are exclusively breastfed, according to CDC data. About 20% of breastfed infants were supplemented with infant formula in their first two days of life, according to the CDC. The US is the only high-income country that doesn’t guarantee paid maternity leave, meaning many moms are back to work soon after having a baby, leaving them little time.”

Without guaranteed paid maternity leave for many breastfeeding can be prohibitive:

• Time-consuming for the mother, pumping multiple times during the day
• Many workplaces do not provide adequate privacy for pumping
• The expense of pumping equipment
• Breast milk storage at home
• Safe transportation and use of breast milk at daycare

Stopping the Baby Formula Shortage and preventing it from happening in the future 

According to CNN, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, has also been critical of the FDA’s handling of safety concerns at Abbott’s Michigan facility and has introduced a bill that would create a Food Safety Administration as a single HHS agency that would be responsible for food safety.

“First, let me be clear: we should not have to choose between supply and safety, especially when it comes to a product we feed our babies. This product should face the most rigorous standards of safety, to ensure that it is safe to feed our children,” she said in a statement to CNN. “The shortage persists because we are overly reliant on one manufacturer to get infant formula back on the shelf.”

Contact your representatives in Congress to take action so this will not be an issue for those in need of healthy and safe baby formula.