Health officials urge parents to avoid ‘dangerous’ homemade recipes

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - As parents around the nation scramble to grapple with a shortage of baby formula products, local health officials are urging families to not panic as there are local resources that can help.

Staff at People’s Family Health Services help families on a daily basis, but the ongoing national baby formula crisis is providing a different kind of challenge.

“We get a lot of phone calls everyday just with various situations,” said executive director Jodi Sonneman.

Months of COVID-related supply chain problems intensified by a recall at Abbott Nutrition has caused a 43% out of stock rate nationwide.

“It’s been especially tricky with specialized formulas that are for babies who have different nutritional needs that doctor’s actually prescribed,” Sonneman said.

With no end in sight for the shortage, doctors warn against making your own or diluting baby formula as both could be dangerous for babies.

“Using goat milk and cow milk, of course, has some concerns about its nutritional profile and then also from homemade formulas you’re concerned about having bacterial problems,” said Great Plains Health Certified Physician Stacey Coppersmith.

Health officials hope the shortage will encourage more moms to breast feed.

“We implemented our donor breast milk program about two years ago and we’ve seen those positive effects in our in-patients,” said Great Plains Health Labor Nurse Serena Findley. “But then our community, another thing is we want to make sure that even though they are discharged from our facility they are able to get those resources as well.”

For more information about the Mothers’ Milk Bank go to www.rmchildren.org.

Physicians strongly encourage parents to consult with their physicians if they have any questions or concerns and continue following the CDC recommendations for formula and feeding their babies. They also urge parents to make sure the formula they are getting hasn’t been recalled.