Mid-South moms had already grown desperate about the lack of baby formula in store shelves by July of this year. Stephanie Patiño said in an interview during that period that it needs to end because they need to feed their babies and not every mom is able to breastfeed.
The mom of three started a Facebook group so mothers in the area could alert each other about product availability of baby formula in Shelby County stores.
The shortage started eight months ago when Abbott Nutrition stopped production at a facility in the state of Michigan. Prior to the plant's temporary closure, inspectors working with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had found bacteria dangerous to babies in some of the facility's powdered infant formula, according to CBS News.
Moms asking why formula crisis has not been resolved yet?
The Sturgis plant controlled an estimated one fifth of the United States' supply of baby formula. The Biden administration has arranged since then for more than two dozen flights of baby formula to the country. Republicans in both the House and the Senate argue that more needs to be done to resolve the ongoing shortage.
Four months after that interview, Patiño questions why the baby formula crisis has not been resolved yet. She noted that it is about to be a year already, telling the people in charge to get it together.
Patiño told FOX13 that her daughter Silvia needs to have baby formula for at least three more months, but she is determined to keep her Facebook group running as long as the shortage exists in the United States.
Other working moms like Toddnetta Trice also want the formula crisis to end. She said that they deserve access to formula because it is more convenient for them working moms. She added that a lot of them unfortunately don't have the ability to breastfeed.
Baby formula shortage still a problem as we head to December
Trice said that she has struggled to find access for 21 weeks to the formula her daughter, Malaya, needs. The worried mom said that she does not want to imagine a world where her daughter can't have it.
There are plenty of questions running on Trice's mind because of the ongoing formula shortage, such as "How is she going to live?" and "How is she going to eat?" Trice said she needs formula to survive.
The problem for Trice, Patiño, and other moms in the country is that the baby formula shortage is showing no signs of stopping even though stocks are returning back to normal.
Data released by market research firm IRI Worldwide from late October found that 87 percent of store shelves had baby formula back in stock. That is near the level from before the formula shortage and well above the low of 69 percent from near the peak of the shortage during the summer, according to Newsy.
