This is the article:
Mothers are being turned away from food banks without milk to feed their babies because of Unicef guidelines that warn against infant formula.
British charities are urging the aid organisation to update its guidance, saying it causes food banks to refuse donations and mothers to water down formula or feed young infants with unsuitable porridge or cow’s milk. Some go without food themselves to ensure their children do not go hungry.
The NHS says cow’s milk should not be given to a baby under the age of one.
Lauren Elrick, 26, a dental nurse from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, watered down her daughter Robyn’s formula after her maternity pay stopped and her partner’s working hours were cut.
“I had full intentions of going back to work full-time,” she said, “so I decided formula feeding was easiest.”
The couple borrowed money from Elrick’s parents to help pay for formula, before obtaining it from AberNecessities, a local baby charity that does not follow the Unicef guidance.
“It was heartbreaking to be in this position because as a mum I wanted to do everything I possibly could for my daughter, especially to provide her with food,” Elrick said.
She was lucky. Across the UK, babies are going hungry as councils tell food banks not to distribute formula, charities said. Formula costs up to £10 per tub, and babies can go through one or two a week.
“Not being able to feed your baby must just be the worst feeling in the world,” said Erin Williams, 40, co-founder of Feed, a charity asking for new guidelines.
The Unicef advice, last updated in May 2019, urges food banks not to hand out formula because of “concerns for the safety of the baby”, stating “there is an array of different products on the market and getting the right one from a food bank cannot be
In some parts of the country specialist baby banks — which also hand out nappies and wipes — have stepped in, but in others, they are being told not to give out formula by local authorities.
In London, a volunteer at a baby bank said: “Our local food bank has its hands tied to the same extent that we do. Our local authority is calling the shots and as we are based in one of their properties we cannot go against council guidance for fear of losing our home.”
The Trussell Trust, one of the largest food bank networks, is among those to follow the advice, saying: “As we are not health professionals, we feel it is important for our guidance to mirror the standards set by Unicef, which are used in many NHS settings across the UK.”
Some food banks are handing out donated formula “under the counter”, said Tracy Tender, 43, of Glasgow North baby food bank. “Who is anyone to dictate what way a baby should be fed? It should be fed.”
Danielle Flecher-Horne, founder of AberNecessities, said: “I can assure you, there is no worse sound than hearing a mother crying down the phone, desperate to feed her baby.”
Alison Thewliss, an SNP MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on infant feeding, backed the Unicef guidelines, saying they were “there for a reason”. She added: “The wider picture is the influence of formula companies and that they may be using the means of food banks, for example, to make their products look better.”
Unicef said it had issued extra guidance stating that “local authorities can distribute infant formula in an emergency or where there is genuine need, providing that a continued supply can be guaranteed and ... safeguarding and infant feeding protocols are applied.”
Sue Ashmore, programme director of Unicef UK’s Baby Friendly Initiative, said: “While people clearly donate infant formula with the best intentions, it’s important to recognise that how babies are fed in the early months of life can have a profound effect on their short and longerterm health.
“There are numerous different products on the market and there is no guarantee that formula donations will be the most suitable for the babies in need, or that food banks will receive the consistency of supply that is vital for babies’ survival and health.
“Health visitors and midwives have been trained and are best placed to support families to feed their babies as safely as possible depending on the circumstances, and food bank staff cannot be expected to take on this responsibility.”
One of the charities involved, the British Pregnancy Advice Service, said there was an “urgent need” for a policy change “given the current pandemic ... this situation is only likely to worsen.
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