What If You Couldn’t Afford To Feed Your Baby

All any mother wants is the guarantee that when her precious little bundle arrives she will be able to keep them safe, healthy and happy.

We all go out of our way to give our babies the best start in life that we possibly can…but what if this taken out of our hands and problems arise.

When I had number four as many of you will know we had a really tough journey after his was diagnosed with multiple food allergies.

I had never really considered what a huge impact this would have on us and it took months of hospital visits and teams of wonderful staff that managed to get this issues under control so that we could go be safe I the knowledge that we could bring up our son so that he would grow and nourish like any other child.

I was lucky enough to manage to breastfed for two years by excluding all allergiens from my diet, but as he got older his diet was so limited that he struggled with weight gain and up until the age of four he was prescribed a formula milk that was suitable for him.

Along with this and up to the present time we also get safe bread and pasta for him that have been a huge help as they are so costly to buy and the bread alone that is only available online at the cost on nearly £5 for one small loaf.

Sadly I have just heard that the Clinical Commissioning Group for the borough of Croydon are now going to stop providing infant formulas and gluten free products on prescription.

Can you imagine having a newborn baby that needs feeding and having to find the money to pay sometimes as much as £45 for one small tin of formula.

With an average of two tins being used per week I would struggle to find many families that would be able to find upwards of £360 a month to feed one baby, infact this amount would probably equate to what most families would spend on a food shop for their entire family.

I fully understand that the NHS is under extreme pressure and cuts and changes need to be made so that this fantastic service can be kept for us, but taking food from the mouths of babes is a step to far and will have serious implications for so many families in this borough.

If this affects you in any way or you feel this is unjust then please feel free to sign this petition ‘here’.