Abstract
ObjectiveSmall for gestational age (SGA) preterm infants (PT) are at greatest risk for growth failure. Our objective was to assess the impact of an exclusive human milk diet (HUM) on growth velocities and neonatal morbidities from birth to discharge in a SGA population.Study designMulticenter, retrospective cohort study, subgroup analysis of SGA PT comparing a cow’s milk diet (CMD) with HUM diet.ResultsAt birth 420 PT were classified as SGA (197 CMD group, 223 HUM group). Demographics and anthropometric measurements were similar. HUM group PT showed improvement in length Z score at discharge (p = 0.024) and reduction in necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) (p = 0.004).ConclusionSGA PT fed a HUM diet had significantly decreased incidence of NEC, surgical NEC, and late-onset sepsis. Due to concerns about growth in a HUM diet, it is reassuring SGA infants fed the HUM diet had similar growth to CMD diet with trends toward improvement.
Highlights
Our group published a multicenter retrospective cohort study comparing infants who received a cow’s milk diet (CMD) of mother’s own milk (MOM) fortified with cow’s milk-based fortifier (CMF) and/or preterm formula to infants who received an exclusive human milk diet (HUM) of MOM and/or donor human milk (DHM) fortified with human milk-based fortifier (HMBF) [1, 2]
In a previously published multicenter, retrospective cohort study, infants who received a CMD diet of MOM fortified with CMF and/or preterm formula were compared to growth of infants who received a newly introduced HUM diet feeding protocol consisting of MOM and/or DHM with HMBF [1, 2]
All other parameters for weight, length, and Head circumference (HC) were numerically superior in the HUM group
Summary
Our group published a multicenter retrospective cohort study comparing infants who received a cow’s milk diet (CMD) of mother’s own milk (MOM) fortified with cow’s milk-based fortifier (CMF) and/or preterm formula to infants who received an exclusive human milk diet (HUM) of MOM and/or donor human milk (DHM) fortified with human milk-based fortifier (HMBF) [1, 2]. There are significant short- and long-term beneficial effects of feeding preterm infants a HUM diet compared to a mixed CMD diet, including decreased late-onset sepsis, reduction in BPD, mortality, and decreased risk of developing NEC supported by multiple published studies comprising of randomized controlled trials [8,9,10,11]
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