Charlotte families confront anxiety over baby formula shortage, breastfeeding challenges

Some new moms leaving Charlotte hospitals with their newborns are departing in tears, worried they won’t be able to provide their newborn with enough breast milk or formula weeks into a nationwide baby formula shortage.

Others who started breastfeeding told The Charlotte Observer they didn’t realize how hard it would be. And some are irritated at the comments they see online as they deal with the shortage or breastfeeding concerns.

“It is definitely causing a lot of anxiety,” Novant Health Charlotte lactation services manager Laura Corsig said. She spoke of the moms leaving the hospital in tears.

Breastfeeding practices have come under new national attention as parents look for ways to provide nutrients for their infants amid the shortage. And many who haven’t breastfed babies have questions, like why can’t parents turn to breastfeeding as a free alternative to formula?

But breastfeeding is complicated, local lactation experts and several new mothers told the Observer.

More info: Here's what you need to know about the baby formula shortage in Charlotte

“Me and the baby were having difficulty breastfeeding,” new mom Kayla Wall said. “I feel like no one prepares you for how hard it is.”

Wall said that before giving birth, she knew she wanted to breastfeed her baby as much as possible. But the formula shortage puts more stress on an already tense time and puts even more pressure on her to breastfeed, she said. Her son Tucker Rodriguez was born on May 7.

And breastfeeding hasn’t been easy.

“I didn’t realize how hard it is,” Wall said. “And how painful it can be in the beginning. Honestly, it’s me learning and it’s the baby learning. I feel like it’s difficult for both of us.

“Some people get it really easily and I’m not that person. I wish I was.”

‘A full time job’

Not every new parent is able to breastfeed, like adoptive parents or those who need to return to work immediately.

Anything that separates the birthing parent from a newborn can interrupt or diminish their milk supply, Corsig said.

“A newborn is going to eat eight to 10 times a day,” Corsig said. “Each time is going to take about an hour. So taking care of a newborn is a full-time job.”

And many other issues can make breastfeeding harder, even for parents who are physically able to breastfeed.

Some babies have difficulties latching or the parent may have a diminished supply of milk, she said. And other factors, like substance dependency or trauma from sexual abuse, could also affect a parent’s decision to breastfeed, Corsig said.

Some new parents will need to supplement feedings with formula, because their bodies are only able to supply a small amount of milk, Corsig said.

Plus, cortisol — the stress hormone — can block oxytocin, which is the hormone that releases breast milk. “So being under stress is counterproductive to breastfeeding,” Corsig said.

Corsig has been receiving a lot of calls from parents asking if it’s possible to start breastfeeding again after stopping. But that’s a very difficult process.

“Re-lactating is not impossible, but it is difficult,” she said. “And it’s probably much more difficult than most people realize.”

And if someone is able to restart their milk supply, it likely wouldn’t be a full supply of milk, she added.

Breastfeeding plans change

Jennifer Ginn, who gave birth to daughter Mable on May 6, said breastfeeding is the goal. But Mable hasn’t been gaining weight like Ginn and her doctors would like to see.

It hasn’t been a big issue yet — baby Mable is only two pounds below her hospital weight — but Ginn may need to supplement with formula in the future.

Plans can change a lot when it comes to birth and newborns, Ginn said: “I’m definitely learning that.”

Ginn planned to have a natural birth, but ended up needing a scheduled C section.

She spent more time ahead of Mable’s birth researching birth and breastfeeding than she did paying attention to the formula shortage. It wasn’t until she got home from the hospital and family began reaching out that she realized: “Oh, this shortage is a real thing.”

Ginn hopes she’ll be able to exclusively breastfeed. Her first priority, however, is making sure Mable is fed.

But it’s stressful to know that if she needs to supplement breastfeeding with formula, there may not be enough formula available.

Ask for help

Throughout the formula shortage, some patients turned to their doctors for access to formula. In Charlotte, StarMed Healthcare hosted a baby formula giveaway at its Tuckaseegee Road and Central Avenue locations on Tuesday.

One man, John Clay, waited in line with his 5-month-old grandson John Clay III and well over 100 others at the Central Avenue location.

“The last time we found formula was a month ago,” he said. “I don’t know what we would’ve done without it. You can’t just feed him anything, he’s just a baby.”

Atrium Health lactation consultant Amy Cunningham has heard from patients who are worried they won’t be able to exclusively breastfeed amid the formula shortage.

That’s where she and other local lactation consultants can come in, she said.

“We have different ways that we can help them increase that milk production so that perhaps they don’t have to use that bridge of formula during this time,” Cunningham said. “So absolutely reach out if you are breastfeeding.”

For Wall, new mom to Tucker, pumping has helped her keep her supply of milk high while getting accustomed to sometimes painful nursing.

And Wall said Novant Health lactation consultants have been so helpful as she’s learned how to breastfeed and how to pump milk. Wall is now nursing one to two times a day and pumping for the rest of the day.

“It’s a labor of love,” she said. “You just keep trying and keep trying.”

But it’s been frustrating to see opinions or comments online about breastfeeding during the formula shortage as she struggles with painful feedings.

“It’s easy for people to just make up solutions in their mind,” Wall said. “If they’ve never done it, they have no idea what it’s like. It just adds so much more pressure to new moms.

“…There’s a lot of moms that are entering the hospital in labor having this added pressure to them that the formula backup is not really an option anymore. Like you have to get this right and you have to stick with it. That’s a lot of pressure.”

Charlotte Observer photographer Khadejeh Nikouyeh contributed reporting to this story.