Mom Congress Addresses House Leadership on Infant Formula Crisis

The following letter was submitted to Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations Chairwoman DeGette and Ranking Member Griffith, on behalf of Mom Congress on May 23, 2022.

---

May 23, 2022

The Honorable Diana DeGette
Chairwoman
Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Morgan Griffith
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairwoman DeGette and Ranking Member Griffith,

On behalf of Mom Congress, a nonprofit organization representing the health and needs of mothers across the nation, we’re writing for our heightened concern over the infant formula crisis affecting households across the nation, highlighting how such a shortage will likely lead to an even further maternal and parental mental health crisis, and provide recommendations for the Committee.

While 83% of mothers breastfeed for some period of their infant’s lives, 57% of mothers supplement with formula through the first three months of the infant’s life and 75% of mothers will supplement with formula by six months. This is not a breastfeeding vs. formula debate but is a food insecurity crisis that can lead to severe psychological distress for mothers and families across the nation.

Research has found a notably stronger association of serious psychological distress from food insecurity amongst parents, particularly a correlation between maternal and parental depression. A qualitative study of parents of young children revealed themes of anxiety, social isolation, shame, frustration, and depression as part of their emotional effects of food insecurity.¹ Further research has shown that this family stress and parental mental health challenges can lead to childhood adverse outcomes, as parental stress associated with food insecurity is exacerbated by the obstacle in acquiring healthy food for their children.² With the leading cause of postpartum death being suicide and overdose and 1 in 5 pregnant and postpartum mothers experiencing a maternal mental health condition, it is clear that the serious psychological distress of mothers and parents across the nation due to this infant formula shortage will indeed put more mothers at risk of or exacerbate their maternal mental health condition.

In turn, as Congress works to identify solutions to addressing the Infant Formula Shortage Crisis, we want to provide some recommendations for your consideration:

1. Create and expand milk banks at places where mothers visit the most, including community-based organizations and faith-based organizations;

2. Temporarily remove tariffs and expedite customs reviews of foreign infant formula;

3. Increase resources for community-based intervention and support for maternal mental health particularly for mothers of color who are more likely to utilize infant formula and are at higher risk of experiencing maternal mental health conditions; and

4. Pass on the House Floor the maternal mental health provisions within Subtitle B of the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-being Act.

As the Committee moves forward to addressing the issue of infant formula, we urge you to consider these recommendations as well as the effect on mothers and parents' mental health. Just as we saw the long-term impact of the pandemic’s community mitigation strategies on youth mental health, we foresee this new crisis as having a parallel for the already fragile state of maternal and parental mental health.

Sincerely,

Joy Burkhard, MBA

Founder and Executive Director, Mom Congress

1 Knowles et al., 2016.
2 McCurdy et al., 2010.