Kayla DiNicola is a new first-time mom, and her baby's name is Harper Grace.

“Raising a baby during these times is not the easiest," DiNicola said. "During the coronavirus, we’ve had our struggles from when I was pregnant until now.” 

One of those challenges is finding the formula her baby needs.

“It was a little bit of a wake-up call to find the right formula for her, and then with the shortage going on, it was even harder,” DiNicola said.

There’s been a consistent shortage of formula throughout the pandemic, Syracuse University supply chain professor Patrick Penfield said.

The culprit is a shortage of certain ingredients like milk, along with a massive recall issued by health care company Abett two months ago due to concerns of bacteria contamination.

“Most of your ingredients are made from cow’s milk. So in addition to that, there’s been some issues of getting that stuff to the supermarket shelves. There’s some supply chain issues with trucking, and then there’s some labor issues at the supermarket. That’s why you see these bare shelves,” said Penfield.

According to Datasembly, the out-of-stock rate for baby formula in April reached 31%, an increase of 11% from November of last year.

“Originally, it started during COVID. The world shut down, and people were buying formula in bulk,” Help Me Grow Onondaga Director Summer Merrick said.

Help Me Grow Onondaga supports new parents through the challenges faced by DiNicola and other moms.

“You can get it, but you might have to go to multiple stores in order to do so, and places we would typically go to that have it in stock have been having a hard time keeping it in stock and on the shelves. So there’s been some demands put on where maybe they can only buy one of two changes,” said Merrick.

“We tried to get it approved through insurance," DiNicola said. "We had to get an appeal because they didn’t at first, but then we got appealed and approved. Then when we ordered it, our pharmacist said it was on back order.”

DiNcola said she’ll do anything to get Harper what she needs, but she may not need to search stores too much longer. Penfield anticipates the shortage will last about three more months.