The WHO has stated that the best food for a baby is it’s mother’s milk; if not available, they recommend donor breastmilk before formula (see paragraph 18, page 17 of the linked document).
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and elsewhere have come to the same conclusion, especially in the case of low birth weight, extremely premature infants.
Quite often, mothers of extremely premature infants are unable to pump enough breastmilk to supply their child with the necessary nutrition. It is common for such infants to receive infant formula to supplement any breastmilk they may receive.
However, the results of this study indicate that
“The stark differences in the risk of NEC (necrotising enterocolitis), its complications and the need for surgery between babies who receive human donor milk and those who get formula signal the need for a change in feeding practices across neonatal intensive care units,” said lead investigator Elizabeth Cristofalo, M.D., a neonatologist at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
With just one human milk bank currently in Canada, and that milk at a high premium, what will the implications of this study be for Canadian neonatal intensive care units?
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