To think formula feeding parents are bent over a barrel?

[inpixiehollow]

Just been discussing this with a friend and interested to know peoples thoughts.
Am I being unreasonable to think that the NHS/govt should manufacture a nutritionally complete formula for babies, sold at cost price to families? Not disputing the importance of real access to proper breastfeeding support but we have to acknowledge that some women cannot/don't want to breastfeed and instead are victim to formula companies turning over huge profits. If people want fancy formulas/special additives then the option should be there but with rising cost of living I don't think its acceptable that something so necessary for many babies is getting to the point of unaffordable.
I am a massive advocate for breastfeeding so please don't take this as an attack or downplaying the massive lack of help for bf in the UK, I just wish both options were made more accessible for whatever feeding choices people make.

Not the point, I know, but I recently noticed a massive price difference between C&G and Aptamil, and wondered why anyone would be buying the latter.

Formula companies spend a vast amount on advertising, because formula advertising has been proven reduce breastfeeding rates and more money for them. To help improve breastfeeding rates the government banned the advertising of infant formula. To get around the ban formula companies invented 'follow on' milk for babies age 6 months plus which they can advertise.

There should be an outright ban on formula advertising, no exceptions. Then formula wouldn't have to be so expensive and less women would have thier breastfeeding journeys sabotaged by big business. I don't agree with subsidising formula other than specialist persciption formulas. People on certain benefits already recieve vouchers for formula, there has to be a line between state help and people who can taking responsibility for themselves. Obviously accidents happen but if you can't afford 10 or 20 a week on baby you shouldn't be planning a pregnancy.

It is the parent's responsibility to feed their child not the government's. Child benefit and healthy start vouchers are available to help those in lower incomes.

I think it’s perfectly ok as is . I couldn’t breastfeed for medical reasons and chose a very expensive formula option by buying SMA ready made , we did occasionally use powder and make it ourselves . The emphasis if there is any spare money should be on promoting and assisting people to breast feed not making it cheaper to formula feed .

fair enough I mis-read it. However then that point is completely irrelevant to my post? I stated the NHS should manufacture a formula to sell at cost price, not already existing formula companies who can carry on selling their product for whatever price they like.

Because the higher price is a deliberate choice to position Aptamil as a premium brand. Many parents are willing to pay that premium in the belief that it is a superior product. It isn’t, but branding has a very very powerful influence on consumer behaviour.

I breastfeed, but yes, I see where you are coming from.

Not free, because nothing is ever free, it would be at the taxpayers expense. But yes, at cost, because formula is terribly expensive and there are large profit margins.

But there’s loads of things in life that are essential but no free and that someone makes a profit on. Practically everything tbh!
breastfeeding is most definitely not free- mum needs to eat an enormous amount of additional calories plus breast pads, bras, bf tops, pumps etc etc. all that is sold at a profit too. That’s just life. Basic formula isn’t that expensive and is available free to low income parents

But the government wouldn't be paying to feed anyone's child, just providing a cheaper option for parents to purchase. If you disagree thats fair enough but nowhere did I state there should be free formula for anyone other than allergy babies etc. If families could use their vouchers to buy the cheaper formula then it would still remain 'free' to those families who qualify.

Healthy start vouchers already exist for poor parents. Why would a company bother producing something if they weren't making a profit? Do you want all food to be sold at production cost as well seeing as everyone needs food not just babies

But if the NHS starts offering cost-price formula to everyone, the formula companies are going to struggle and potentially even close if they're no longer making money.

They're businesses with thousands of employees who rely on them to pay their bills - the decision to make cost-price formula on the NHS isn't a decision that exists in a vacuum - it could have a negative impact on thousands of families.

Parents should be factoring the price of formula into their budgets, the same way they budget for childcare or nappies or uniform.

This plan of the govt selling it at cost would never work. The govt do not own the manufacturing infrastructure to make formula and they don't have the supply chains set up either - this would all require a lot of money to set up from scratch. This would add to the cost of the formula so it's not going to be the cheap option some posters seem to think.

Then there's the fact is very difficult to set a cost price unless you can guarantee a certain number of sales. E.g. if it costs £50m to set all this up and then they can only sell a thousand units then the cost was really 50k each. You would be forcing a massive cost onto taxpayers.

Really we already do this anyway through healthy start vouchers and child benefit. How much more help do parents need in order to do the basics such as feed their kids? And if you can't afford formula then you are going to struggle to afford food when you've got a toddler. Perhaps people need to consider whether they should become parents if they can't afford the basics like formula.

In the war National Dried Milk was introduced to enable mothers to go back to work. In the 1950s and 60s it was available at baby clinics ( I assume cheap or free) I remember going with my mum to get the tins. We also got cod liver oil and very concentrated orange juice.

I looked up National Dried Milk. Apparently it was discontinued in the 70s because people preferred other types of formula. I wonder if it was reintroduced now would it be popular?

A small church hall type thing. I have only heard their reasons for their feeding choice because it’s been used as a reason to make a comment towards me.

“Oh I would have done that but I already got stretchmarks so didn’t want to ruin my boobs”
“what does your bf think? Kev says my boobs are his!!!”
“up late last night? You should swap because lil bubba sleeps 11-8”

i think it’s only on MN that breastfeeding is the default and FF is some awful end to someone’s breastfeeding journey.

in some communities BF is absolutely unthought of, seen as dirty, perverse and body-ruining. And it’s completely a feeding choice made with the information they have- not a last resort.

This is an interesting point but most of these formula companies are absolute giants like Nestle/Danone etc so I actually don't have much sympathy for them losing money though the implications for their employees would definitely be something to consider theoretically.

Here it is

The government isn't going to start taking over formula making when it's not going to make them any money.

Who's going to fund all this? Build the factories and set up the infrastructure needed to make all this formula, and how will it be distributed without costing a fortune and therefore not really saving parents anything significant in the long-run anyway.

The competition between the companies forces them to make better and better formula. If you take away that competition, quality will drop to a bare basics level. If you're happy with a bare basics level, you can buy that cheap already.

There used to be a product called (I think) National Dried Milk.
It came in large tins, was cheap, & was sold at mother & baby clinics.

Anyone else remember this?

Cross-posted.

I totally disagree. Most people want to breastfeed, many can’t no matter how hard they try.

We should make good breastfeeding advice more widely available not reducing the one of formula. It is incredible that you cannot even discuss different formulas with a paediatrician when you cannot breastfeed, because they are forbidden to advise on formulas’ differences in order to protect breastfeeding!

I breastfed for 4 years and completely agree. A friend who had a baby around the same time as me and bottle fed from the beginning told me all about the lack of support she had from midwives and nurses and all the lectures she received. She had problems know how much to give her baby. I couldn’t care less how babies are fed as long as they are fed. If someone had told me I’d BF for so long when pregnant I would have laughed, but I liked it more than I thought. I got a lot of judgement too which was unexpected.

Yes!

Have a read of a book called why the politics of breastfeeding matter. It's a real eye opener into the down right horrific practices of infant milk manufacturers.

A plain tin, cost priced, complete formula should be available.

That combined with proper support for mothers to breastfeed.

No it doesn't. They add ingredients with no real test to see if it actually helps babies or not.

What is needed by a baby is the standard to which all formula must adhere. Anything else is just marketing.

My sister was fed National Dried Milk. I used to go with my mother and her to the clinic every week or month to collect it. Sister would be weighed in a basket thing.