Even as the Biden administration launched a national website to help parents find baby formula for feeding their children, Bette Midler advised mothers to try breastfeeding in response to the shortage.
Bette Midler tweeted that it was free and readily available on-demand and mothers should try it to overcome the shortage. She was responding to a post by Stephanie Ruhle, an MSNBC host.
But her well-meaning advice was not well received by numerous responders who claimed that breastfeeding is not always feasible for new mothers. Ilyse Hogue told Bette Midler that her advice was a very bad take. She cited her example and said that she had twins and did not always produce enough for both.
Without baby formula, she would have been forced to choose between who got to eat. She also spoke of children separated from their birth mothers at a young age.
Bette Midler Had Called For Relying On Breastfeeding If It Was An Option
What most responders missed was the point that baby formula was always a substitute for breastfeeding and not the whole deal. What she suggested was to go for it if it was a sensible option, a piece of advice backed by scientific research around the world.
With a term like ‘profoundly insensitive’ being bandied around in response to the post, people have chosen to miss the whole point of the advice.
The American baby formula industry is regulated heavily with 90% of the market controlled by a monopoly of 3 companies. They have lobbied extensively to prohibit foreign formulas into the lucrative American market.
While many mothers face genuine issues when it comes to breastfeeding their children, Bette Midler’s advice was both well-meaning and sane.
Breastfeeding does not work for all women and is not suitable for all children But using it as a backup when possible could ease the current crisis, which, from most indications, is an artificial one created to jack up prices.
The shortage began first during the start of the pandemic and has continued to worsen and has become a cause of anxiety and concern for parents across America.
Data reveals that the shortage of baby formula has grown throughout recent months, reaching a peak of 43% in the first week of May.
And in this flurry of attacks, what most mothers missed seeing was that they had been brainwashed by the big corporations into thinking that baby formula was their only option.
