Vancouver charity say it's unable to meet rising demand for breast pumps

A Vancouver-area charity that provides essential baby items to families in need says it's not able to keep up with the demand for breast pumps — demand tied to the rising price of infant formula.

Meghan Neufeld, executive director of BabyGoRound, said demand had gone up about 70 per cent this year, and the cost of the breast pump the organization provides has also shot up.

Clients are referred to the charity by other agencies, but Neufeld said 32 mothers have had to be turned away already this year, four times more than the same period last year.

BabyGoRound largely relies on gently-used donations it can provide for families, but it has to buy new car seats and breast pumps. According to Neufeld, the model of breast pump the group provides has gone from $130 last year to $160 this year. 

Barbara Peterson, who owns TJ's, a chain of baby stores in British Columbia, said she's noticed that the prices of some breast pumps the store sells have gone up, but others have actually gone down, and in general breast pump prices haven't risen as quickly as other items at the store amid high inflation.

"Breast pumps have not gotten more expensive. You can still buy a manual breast pump for $27," said Peterson, referring to a clear, silicon model made by Haakaa.

Formula supply disruptions

However, Peterson said she has seen an increase in demand for the pumps, which correlates with the disruption in the infant formula industry beginning about a year and a half ago.

"There's been a definite increase in the last two years," she said. "People were commenting how expensive the formula was and how hard it was to get."

According to Neufeld, formula has increased in cost by as much as 22 per cent in a year, meaning a family that relies on it can pay anywhere from $400 to $800 per month to feed a baby.

In March, Statistics Canada reported that infant formula had increased 11.8 per cent in price in a year — higher than the rate of inflation. That steep rise was blamed on supply chain issues, as well as a shortage of sunflower oil, often a key ingredient in formula.

Neufeld said that many of the families her organization serves are food insecure, and in many cases that can lead to challenges breastfeeding longer than six or eight weeks. 

Food bank also seeing surge in demand

Infant formula supply isn't a problem at the Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB), according to Cynthia Boulter, chief operations officer.

But Boulter said demand for everything — including formula — at the food bank has been climbing swiftly, as the cost of living squeezes families.

GVFB serves 16,000 people each month, along with dozens of community agencies managing for programs.

According to Boulter, in the last fiscal year ending in June, about 800 new clients signed up each month.

"It's just about that ever-increasing need and we haven't seen a slowdown yet," she said, saying infant needs were consistent with the broader increase in need.

In the recent fiscal year, Boulter said 950 babies (up the the age of two) were supported, a dramatic increase from the year before when 650 babies received support from the food bank.

But she said the organization hasn't struggled with the jump in formula prices experienced elsewhere.

According to Boulter, GVFB had a good supply in place before the disruptions last year, and pays a rate of $19 per container for formula that would cost $30 or more retail — a rate the organization has maintained for a few years.