How the Federal Government is Making the Baby Formula Shortage Way Worse

A grave shortage of baby formula is hitting American families hard right now. Per CBS News, roughly 40% of the most popular baby formula products were out-of-stock as of April 24. This supply issue is leading to hoarding, rationing, and serious concern among American mothers.

“Can’t mothers just breastfeed?” If you’re a clueless, childless, male like me, you probably had the same thought. But it’s actually not that simple.

“It’s not a spigot,” Bethany Mandel, a prominent conservative writer and a mom of five, explained to me with a laugh. “It’s a really precarious ecosystem. There are a lot of women who have biological difficulties with it, whether they don’t produce enough milk, or they’re on a medication that’s contraindicated with breastfeeding… there’s a lot of those situations.”

Mandel also explained that sometimes women stop producing adequate amounts of breastmilk if they get pregnant again. What’s more, sometimes the natural process that prompts a mother’s body to produce milk falters when they return to work and spend more time away from their baby. She stressed that for mothers who rely on formula, the current shortage is a grave problem, forcing them into drastic measures as stores start rationing.