Richland mom struggles to find formula for twins

RICHLAND, Ga. (WALB) -One Stewart County mother has to use a special premature baby formula which has been much more difficult to find due to the baby formula shortage.

Jessica Patterson is the mother of 10-month-old twins. She says her struggles started back in February with the Abbott recall.

“The first few months were fine as far as finding the formula we needed,” Patterson said. “Then I want to say they were seven months old when they had the recall of the formula. We weren’t sure whether their formula had been recalled or not.”

She says since then, her pediatrician switched her to another premature baby formula which has been extremely hard to find since then.

“The doctor actually wants them to be on their formula for the solid year since they were premature and it’s got the extra stuff in it,” she said. “But we have cut back a good bit since they’ve been on table foods and everything. When we do make bottles we’ve been omitting the one scoop to try to stretch it out a little bit further since it’s been hard to find.”

Patterson says this isn’t the only sacrifice she’s made. She also tells me she’s had to travel to places like Americus to look for the formula, and even tells me that one neighbor traveled to Alabama to look for it. However, she says even the external help sometimes isn’t enough.

“Our local Piggly Wiggly had ordered it and had it specially ordered for us because we were having a hard time finding it and then we went in one day and they just said that they didn’t send the shipment in, so we weren’t able to find it there for a little bit,” she said.

She says she believes living in a rural area has put her at a disadvantage since there is only one covert store in her town. She also says the limit on cans that most stores have put in place sets her back as well since she has multiple children.

Sarah Waling is a pediatrician at Albany Area Primary Health Care. She emphasizes that specialized formulas are even more scarce.

“For infants who require either a hydrolyzed formula like a completely hydrolyzed formula or else a hypoallergenic formula where they have food allergies or metabolic defects. Those formulas have been very difficult to obtain,” she said.

Waling tells me parents of children on specialized formulas should contact their pediatrician if they have questions since that often requires them to call a geneticist and metabolic team.

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