Outcomes of very low birth weight infants and extremely low birth weight infants fed either with human donors′ milk or formula

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the safety and effects of feeding very low birth weight infants and extremely low birth weight infants with human donors′ milk in China. Methods One hundred and ninety-nine very low birth weight infants and extremely low birth weight infants (VLBWI/ELBWI) admitted to NICU in Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital were analyzed retrospectively (from August 1, 2013 to July 31, 2014) one year before and one year after the establishment of human donors′ milk bank.Only 1 infant′s parents(1/199 cases) refused to use donor milk, and 198 infants were fed with donors′ milk since their own mothers′ milk was unavailable.One hundred and forty-eight infants admitted to NICU from August 1, 2012 to July 31, 2013 were chosen as the control group, who were fed with formula milk since their own mothers′ milk was unavailable.The mortality, incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis(NEC) and sepsis, time to full enteral feeding and hospital stay between 2 groups were analyzed. Results One year before the establishment of breast milk bank, there were 148 cases of very low or extremely low birth weight infants receiving mixed feeding, and 16 cases of them had neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis, the incidence rate was 10.81%.Since the establishment of human milk bank, 187 women donated breast milk in the first year and 260 555 mL of human milk were collected and delivered.Only 1 infant (1/199 cases) refused to use donor milk, and 198 infants were fed with donors′ milk since their own mothers′ milk was unavailable.Nine babies with VLBWI/ELBWI were diagnosed as NEC in donor milk feeding group, and 16 cases were diagnosed as NEC in formula-feeding group.The incidence rate of NEC was lower in the donor-milk-feeding group(4.52% vs 10.81%, χ2=5.02, P 0.05). Conclusions Donors′ breast milk is associated with a lower risk of NEC, sooner full enteral feeding and shorter hospital stay.Further research is needed to confirm these findings and measure the growth and long term neurodevelopment effects of donors′ breast milk. Key words: Donor human milk; Very low birth weight infants; Extremely low birth weight infants; Necrotizing enterocolitis; Sepsis