I heard someone say this week that breastfeeding advocates should be holding their tongues right now. I disagree. Now is the time for breastfeeding advocates to be speaking up and out about how to safely share human milk, what formulas are equivalent to what, increasing milk supply, re-lactation, inducing lactation, safe formula preparation AND the importance of supporting families prenatally and in early postpartum and supporting legislation for parental leave and so many other things that could help many of the people who DO WANT to breastfeed but get ZERO SUPPORT to meet their goals.

Now is the time for ALL of these conversations and none of that is about shaming these desperate parents in need of formula for their babies.

You can support breastfeeding and support formula feeding. Yep, I said it. They are not mutually exclusive.

What we need is support for accurate and consistent prenatal education. Close to 90% of all pregnant people state that they do want to breastfeed. Less than 60% meet their goals.

What we need is access to quality lactation care from hour one after delivery, to day 4 at the pediatricians’ office, for lactation home visits, for telehealth, for ANY TIME a parent needs or wants it.

What we need is paid family leave to allow parents the time to heal from birth, get to know their babies, and learn how to feed them.

What we need is for parents to feel informed and empowered about their feeding journeys and make decisions based on that information and not out of fear, shame, guilt, or lack of quality information.

More breastfed babies mean fewer at risk in a crisis like this formula shortage.

Find out more about Bonnie Logsdon, RD, IBCLC and her services at Bonnie Knows Breast.