Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

The US is running out of baby formula: yet more evidence that new mothers can never win

The US is running out of baby formula: yet more evidence that new mothers can never win

Women have breastfed for thousands of years and yet there are still those who think we can just ‘switch on’ our milk
I had an easy pregnancy, a textbook C-section and the gift of a two-week recovery period alone at home after my twins were sent to the newborn intensive care unit – or, having given birth in the US, “the world’s most expensive babysitting service”, as a nurse described it at the time.

One consequence of this was that I was fully healed by the time they came home. Another was that in the first two weeks of my babies’ lives, breastfeeding had to be supplemented with formula. By the time they left hospital, my supply was getting sketchy, which as it turned out was the least of our problems. Trying to get two preemies, not much bigger than guinea pigs, to latch was like asking them to eat peas off a beachball.

I’d forgotten about all this. As with everything to do with childrearing, there’s a scorched-earth psychology that means each stage renders its antecedents uninteresting. When something comes along to trigger the memory of those first weeks and months – a friend having a baby or, as in the US at the moment, a shortage of baby formula that this week saw two babies in Memphis hospitalised – I’m struck simultaneously by just how absurd the experience was and how out of whack the conversation around it continues to be.

The formula shortage in the US is a result of supply-chain problems, exacerbated by one of the biggest suppliers, Abbott Nutrition, recalling its formula after four babies who had consumed its product were hospitalised with bacterial infections. As a result, tins of formula have been listing on eBay for $120 a pop and babies with specific nutritional needs, such as the two in Memphis, are in danger of various dire health failures.

These are the worst-case scenarios. The more bearable but still aggravating casualty is the equilibrium of breastfeeding mothers. It is so very weird that an activity undertaken by millions of women over thousands of years is still subject to such wilful misunderstanding. With an air of “let them eat cake”, up popped the commentators on social media asking mothers why they didn’t just switch on their boobs. It was mostly, although not exclusively, men. Women police each other, too, and along came Bette Midler, of all people, jumping on Twitter to say: “Try breastfeeding! It’s free and available on demand.”

When people shouted at her for being insensitive, she clarified: “No shame if you can’t breastfeed, but if you can & are somehow convinced that your own milk isn’t as good as a ‘scientifically researched product’, that’s something else again.” I don’t know anyone still labouring under the delusion that breast milk isn’t “good enough” for their babies. In fact, the opposite tends to be true, particularly in communities that over-invest in the word “natural”. But anyway, as all new mothers know, you can’t win. Whatever you do, someone, somewhere will surface to ask why you aren’t doing it the other way.

And, obviously, “available on demand” is not the case for lots of women. Back it all came, in a nightmarish rush; the series of breastfeeding consultants; all the mad things I ate (brewer’s yeast; endless oatmeal) to increase my supply; having too little milk, then too much. The formula itself, gross-smelling and thin – standing in the kitchen, warming the bottles in a cup of hot water, wondering how they could stand to eat the stuff. The middle-of-the-night delirium in which I wondered whether Vietnam was worse than this, surely not. The body that wasn’t mine any more. The endless bloody how-to-breastfeed-your-twins classes. The sense of failure, and failure, and failure again.

And my god, the anxiety: the knowledge that with babies that small there is no margin for error. The old adage about children and food – “they won’t let themselves starve” – doesn’t work with six-week-old babies who weigh less than a pack of butter. They don’t eat quickly at that age. Eyes on the clock, watching the two-hour rotational feed take an hour and a half, knowing that, this cycle, you’ll only have 30 minutes off, so it’s cheat-with-formula or go actively mad.

I’d forgotten all this, as most women do. But in weeks such as these, the fact that this experience falls squarely within the normal range only makes the conversation around breastfeeding – as around everything to do with babies, from “too posh to push” to “cry it out” – inclined to trigger a rage that has been dormant for years.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
×