The effects of Brexit and Covid on babies, toddlers, and new parents. A thread.
According to the head of the @AssocBfMothers, 80% of formula is imported from the EU to the UK.
There is currently a 20% tariff on formula, which is set to be increased by 6% with the new global tariff
So at a time when the economy is seeing a historic depression and food is already going to be expensive, there's going to be a magnitude increase in formula
There is only 1 UK-based formula producer, a parent might ask: Will they have enough for increased demand? Will parents be forced to buy formula from cheaper producers? Will they have the same safety measures as the EU?
For many parents there is a strong belief that their baby prefers brand X which they may no longer have access to come Jan 2021
COVID has only made this worse.
While the government has provided detailed information for the reopening of bowling alleys and pubs, they haven’t offered direct guidance on baby groups and breastfeeding support
The major UK breastfeeding support charities moved all online in March and remain online but this doesn't replace the ability to support a new mum face-to-face in these challenging times
This doesn't even touch on how impacted postnatal care has been with the closures of weigh in clinics and redeployment of the health visiting service; for example, parents are being told to buy scales to weigh their babies at home.
This is ridiculous advice - medical scales are far more expensive than home scales because the need for accuracy is imperative when you're comparing grams
The health of newborns and the mental health of new parents has not been considered for months because of COVID
New parents have been completely forgotten about in this crisis.
Even for parents with toddlers, who can be notoriously picky, telling them that their favourite food is now too expensive come 1 January and that they'll need to find something else, inevitably during another lockdown, good luck
This all becomes completely untenable. And that's before a discussion of childcare and older food sensitive children.
Thank you to an @bunker_pod listener for bringing this important matter to our attention. END THREAD.
