The supply of baby formula in the United States has supposedly improved, but parents nationwide are still struggling to find them months after the initial panic ensued.
Amber Bergeron, a mother from Louisiana, joined "Fox & Friends First" to share the struggle to find baby formula for her premature twins. She also called out the Biden administration for its failure to handle the shortage.
"The conclusion that I have come to is the American people need to remember this: Remember that the children, our future, were not important to this administration. I'd like to ask the president, where are you for our future? Where are you? You need to wake up," she said.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that around 33 percent of American families were still struggling to find baby formula in September.
Lawmakers have already called on the Food and Drug Administration to provide answers as to why there have been such delayed responses in adapting to the shortages as prices continue to soar.
Bergeron aired her frustration, saying there's nobody to help her and those like her in the middle class. "We work hard. We go to school to provide a better life for our families and our children, and this is the slap in the face that we get," she said.
She also mentioned that given the 40-year-high inflation and the struggle to find the right baby formula, the holidays will look very different in the coming months, adding that all the extras that they had for the holidays just won't happen this year.
Although data market research from IRI showed that the share of powdered baby formula products that are out of stock in the U.S. has been cut nearly in half over the past few months – only about 18 percent of powdered formula was out of stock in the first week of October compared to the 31 percent in mid-July – the stock rates are still worse than they were before the shortage hit. (Related: "I can't feed my son!" Baby formula shortage reaches critical stage in U.S. as desperate parents search for rationed supplies.)
Nearly a third of the households with babies younger than one said they had trouble finding formula over the course of one week last month, and more than 40 percent said they only had one week's supply or less on hand.
Another mother, Carrie Gillispie, birthed her second child in March, just weeks after the nationwide recall. While the acute fear of not having anything to feed her child is mostly behind her, it is still a very present concern.
"The fear has stayed with me," the Maryland resident said. "It's much better now, but now it's just turned into anger, that it's still happening and that I still have to search high and low. My baby's seven months old now."
Quantifying severity of formula shortage is a challenge
Quantifying the severity of the formula shortage situation has been challenging. Stockpiling has skewed sales data to make it seem like more formula is getting to more families, and manufacturers have limited the options they made available – which could affect stock rates.
Gillispie said there had been a noticeable improvement in the formula situation, but it still feels different than it was with her first child born three years ago. She has adjusted her routines and leans heavily on her support systems, such as her mom and even her pediatrician, to help ensure that her limited supply does not dry up.
"Even now, I have to plan in a run to one or two grocery stores every day to just see what's there and grab something if it's there, but a lot of times, there's actually nothing there," she said. "There's probably one kind, maybe two kinds, but usually there's just one bottle left or one can left."
It is also increasing the stress she feels as a parent. "With my first child, the things that were scary to me were really typical things that I knew I could take care of. It was just a matter of learning how to be a mom. But this time around, what's scary is something that's really out of my control, and really out of the control of everyone I know."
The shortage is not over. There are some lingering effects that run deeper because of a flawed system.
Dr. Steve Abrams, a neonatologist at the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, said that the shortages now tend to be spot shortages that mostly affect those who need specialty formulas and those who struggle to substitute specific formulas that their children are used to.
"Trying to buy infant formula was always a chaotic mess. And now, when there aren't so many options and gas is expensive, it's become worse," he said.
Visit FoodSupply.news for more updates about energy sources this summer.
Watch the video below featuring Americans who shared their experiences at the height of the baby formula shortage.
This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Parents of babies with allergies are struggling due to baby formula shortage.
Baby formula shortage continues despite replenishment efforts by manufacturers, government.
Sources include:
Please contact us for more information.