Objective:
To evaluate the health benefits of an exclusively human milk-based diet compared with a diet of both human milk and bovine milk-based products in extremely premature infants.
Study design:
Infants fed their own mothers' milk were randomized to 1 of 3 study groups. groups hm100 and hm40 received pasteurized donor human milk-based human milk fortifier when the enteral intake was 100 and 40 ml/kg/d, respectively, and both groups received pasteurized donor human milk if no mother's milk was available. group bov received bovine milk-based human milk fortifier when the enteral intake was 100 ml/kg/d and preterm formula if no mother's milk was available. outcomes included duration of parenteral nutrition, morbidity, and growth.
Results:
The 3 groups (total n = 207 infants) had similar baseline demographic variables, duration of parenteral nutrition, rates of late-onset sepsis, and growth. the groups receiving an exclusively human milk diet had significantly lower rates of necrotizing enterocolitis (nec; p = .02) and nec requiring surgical intervention (p = .007).
Conclusions:
For extremely premature infants, an exclusively human milk-based diet is associated with significantly lower rates of nec and surgical nec when compared with a mother's milk-based diet that also includes bovine milk-based products.