Availability of donor milk improves enteral feeding but has limited effect on body growth of infants with very-low birthweight: Data from a historic cohort study

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Compare with preterm formula, donor human milk (DM) is associated with a lower risk of mortality and morbidity in preterm infants. It is thus deemed superior to preterm formula as the sole diet or supplement to own mother's milk (OMM) for preterm infants, especially for those with very low birthweight (VLBW). This historic cohort study investigated the relationship between DM availability, and enteral feeding, body growth of VLBW infants by comparing two cohorts before and after the establishment of a human milk bank. A sub-analysis was also conducted between small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and non-SGA infants in our cohorts. Our results showed that DM availability was associated with earlier initiation and faster advancement of enteral feeding, earlier attainment of full enteral feeding, and a higher proportion of OMM in enteral feeding. DM availability was also associated with earlier regain of birthweight, but not with better body growth. SGA and non-SGA infants responded differently to DM availability with only the non-SGA group showing improved enteral feeding associated with DM availability. The poor growth of VLBW infants with fortified DM warrants further investigations on better fortification strategies to further improve body growth. Studies are also needed on long-term effects of DM feeding on the development of VLBW infants.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere13319
JournalMaternal and Child Nutrition
Volume18
Issue number2
ISSN1740-8695
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study is supported by a starting grant (grant no. 2017181) to PPJ from Sun Yat‐sen University, China. None of the funding bodies has any roles in the design of the study, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data or in writing the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Maternal & Child Nutrition published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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