New Mexico parents struggling to find baby formula amid nationwide shortage

May 19—Nineteen-year-old Jackie Ordoñez Rios, who has been juggling motherhood and high school, faces a new set of worries: Will she have enough baby formula to feed her 7-month-old daughter, Sophia, for the next month?

She had less than a two-week supply Wednesday, Ordoñez Rios said.

"My baby finishes a can of formula in less than two days. Right now, we only have about, like, five cans left," she said. "My boyfriend works at a retail store, and he's been telling me that there is not a lot of formula and we need to be stocking up."

Ordoñez Rios and other parents with infants throughout Northern New Mexico are struggling to find baby formula amid a nationwide shortage. Its effects have reached Santa Fe, where several stores were in short supply this week.

"Every time we go to the store, there's nothing on the shelves," said Rose Clark, another local mom. "I've been able to have family and friends find a few cans here and there, but it's terrifying going to the store and not seeing the food that's keeping your baby alive."

In February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled infant formula produced in a Michigan facility owned by Abbott Nutrition — the largest formula manufacturer in the nation. This, combined with supply chain issues and strict policies on importing the product from other countries, has created the crisis.

President Joe Biden announced last week plans to address the problem, including increasing imports of baby formula, encouraging manufacturers to increase production, calling on retailers to establish purchasing limits to prevent the possibility of hoarding and cracking down on price gouging. Biden on Wednesday invoked the Defense Production Act to speed production of infant formula.

Additionally, U.S. House Democrats on Tuesday proposed an emergency funding bill that would direct $28 million to the FDA to address the shortage.

Ordoñez Rios is one of the many mothers who rely on baby formula because they are unable to breastfeed their infants.

While Ordoñez Rios wanted to breastfeed, she said, she had to stop after a pulmonary embolism forced her to take medications that could affect her daughter.

"I felt so sad because breastfeeding was really what I wanted to do," she said. "I wish I would have been able to do that because I wouldn't be struggling. ... I would have had my resource to feed my daughter and probably even be able to donate milk."

Ordoñez Rios urged breastfeeding mothers to donate their extra milk to families that may need it during the crisis.

Lindsey Maurer, a lactation education specialist at the nonprofit Human Milk Repository of New Mexico, based in Albuquerque, said she has been getting calls from moms hoping to donate breast milk and parents trying to find it as store shelves remain barren.

The repository tests and pasteurizes donated breast milk, Maurer said, and distributes it to families — primarily those with infants in newborn intensive care units who were born premature.

Maurer said the organization also offers breastfeeding counseling to mothers who are struggling to produce enough milk.

"I got a call today from a mom of a 2-month-old who was on the verge of tears," she said. "She said she couldn't find formula."

The mother she spoke with used formula as a supplement to breastfeeding and was able to get some from the federal Women, Infants and Children program. However, Maurer said, the change in the formula brand upset her baby's stomach. Maurer gave the woman advice on how to soothe her fussy baby.

"I had given her some of the tools that she might need in order to be more confident in what she's able to do, and to know that she's doing a good job with breastfeeding and that she can supplement in certain ways," Maurer said.

Enfamil, Similac and specialty formulas for children with medical conditions initially were the main products affected by the shortage.

Clark said she has noticed other brands, like Gerber, are now being bought out.

Hoarding and panic buying make it difficult for parents who can only afford to buy one or two cans of formula at a time, she said.

Marissa Visscher, a program manager for the Santa Fe-based nonprofit Many Mothers, which has a team of volunteers who offer aid to new moms, said 10 of the 15 families she has reached out to needed help finding baby formula.

"I went to Smith's yesterday, and the baby formula shelves were completely empty," she said. "I don't know what people are doing, and it's really scary."

While recalls affected only some brands of baby formula, Visscher said it's not always possible for a parent to switch brands if their child has food allergies or specific dietary needs.

Many Mothers was able to use an emergency fund and work with suppliers to provide a small number of clients with enough of their regular brand of formula to get through the next month.

Many parents have turned to the internet to find their brand.

Online demand for baby formula went up 1,348 percent last week compared to the week prior and was 3,114 percent higher than the 2022 average, according to a new data analysis from Pattern.

Health experts warn ideas for alternatives to baby formula being circulated online, including homemade products and goat's milk, can be dangerous for infants.

Last week, the Women, Infants and Children program in the state, administered by the New Mexico Department of Health, announced it was working to ensure about 31,000 clients were getting the formula they need.

If a parent in the program can't find their formula brand, they can contact their local WIC office. The program will either work with parents to find the formula they need or get them in contact with a doctor to find an alternative option.

WIC Coordinator Frank Napolitano said families that aren't enrolled in WIC can get help accessing baby formula through the state's Child and Adult Care Food Program.

Napolitano has been spending his days contacting formula suppliers as the crisis ramped up over the last two weeks.

"That's been taking over my job," he said. "All my other job duties have gone to the wayside because all day long we're ... calling grocery stores, corporate offices, manufacturers of formula and doctors."