“Infant milk prices penalize those who don’t breastfeed”

Parents feel “punished” for not breastfeeding because of the high price of infant formula, mothers and fathers told the BBC.

The price of infant formula has soared in recent years, but retailers in the UK are prohibited from advertising or offering discounts on infant formula because it could interfere with breastfeeding.

Parenting site Mumsnet said the rules raised the price of formula rather than breastfeeding, and the competition watchdog recommended that the ban on price promotions be lifted.

Claire Smirell, who was unable to breastfeed for medical reasons, said she spent £30 a week on milk for her baby and turned to online marketplaces to keep costs down.

Her son is now eight months old and she is trying to wean him off formula, but not being able to breastfeed and having to deal with the added cost of buying formula makes her feel like a failure. ” Claire said.

“There are offers for unhealthy adult food, but no offer for perfectly healthy baby formula, which feels a bit boring,” says Claire from Wolverhampton.

“I feel like people who don’t breastfeed are being punished.”

According to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the price of baby formula in the UK rose by 18% to 36% depending on brand in the two years between December 2021 and December 2023.

Just three companies control more than 90% of the UK market: Danone, which makes Aptamil and Cow & Gate, Nestlé, which makes SMA, and Kendamil.

London resident Natasha Kurzeya says the price of powdered milk is “exorbitant”.

When Natasha’s 12-week-old son was born, he required a long hospital stay, which she says made breastfeeding unsustainable.

“When you leave out parts of the formula, it’s frustrating because you think, ‘Hey, how much did this cost?’

She agrees with Claire that she feels punished for not being able to breastfeed.

“For babies under 12 months, medicines are necessary, so you don’t have to pay for a prescription. So if you have to feed your baby formula, why should you pay through the nose? Do you?”

“For some of us, formula feeding isn’t an option, but even if that’s the case, it’s best to breastfeed and mothers shouldn’t have to face any more shame.”

In its interim report on infant formula, the CMA recommended better education about formula to prevent parents from being swayed into unwarranted loyalty by brand advertising.

It also suggested the government could buy powdered milk from third parties and sell it at a lower price under the NHS brand.

But a former director of an infant formula manufacturer, who wished to remain anonymous, told the BBC that the introduction of NHS-branded products would create a “race to the bottom”, with companies forced to compete by lowering the quality of their formula. He said it would be. Lowest price.

For other products, he said, the supermarket would be “tough on margins” with its suppliers. But in the case of infant formula, parents had strong loyalty to their favorite brands, so if supermarkets demanded too low a price, suppliers simply took the product elsewhere. , he said.

He also claimed that some infant milk products have different brand names and prices, even though they are made in the same factory and with the same ingredients.

Meanwhile, the head of the parenting site Mumsnet said the government was treating infant milk like cigarettes due to advertising restrictions.

“If you look at the way it’s been regulated in the past, it makes perfect sense that this is an effort to increase breastfeeding rates. But frankly, it hasn’t worked at all,” Justin Roberts said. said.

“The UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world…and the cost of formula is only going to rise for some parents.”

James Gilmartin, from Manchester, has nine-month-old twins, one of whom was born with water in his lungs.

“It was very difficult to give her enough breast milk. She needed to gain enough weight to be taken off the hospital machine, so it was suggested that we use formula,” he said. says.

His partner took a hybrid approach using breast milk and formula, and eventually moved to using formula exclusively.

“Like many newborns, he had digestive issues that affected his bowel movements, so we were told to choose a better infant formula, Cow & Gate Comfort, which is easier to digest.”

An 800g tub costs £14 and with two children to feed, James and his partner were paying two and a half tubs a week, costing them well over £100 a month.

“I think the ban on price promotions is completely offensive and borders on discrimination,” James says.

Nelson Dean, from London, was also surprised by the high cost of powdered milk.

His son was born in September and is being fed a mixture of formula and breast milk.

Family friends recommended Kendamil. Each tin costs £15 and will last my son about a week.

If anything, Nelson thinks parents should be given help with the costs, rather than denying formula-based promotions.

“We were hoping there would be some support for essentials like baby milk because the prices of everything else are going up,” he says.

Additional reporting by Bernadette McCague and Rozina Sini.