The Effect of a Donor Milk Policy on the Diet of Very Low Birth Weight Infants

Abstract

Establishment of a DM policy was associated with reduced exposure to formula, promoting an exclusively human milk diet, with earlier initiation of feeds and no decrease in use of MOM.

Impact of Donor Milk Availability on Breast Milk Use and Necrotizing Enterocolitis Rates

“…13 A single-center study conducted in the Connecticut Children's Medical Center's level-4 NICU that examined data from 154 infants found that the introduction of a DHM policy was associated with a significant increase in the proportion of human milk in the infants' diet. 16 A systematic review and metaanalysis conducted in 2003 based on 4 small trials that are now >30 years old found that infants who received DHM were 3 times less likely to develop NEC than infants who received formula. 12 The authors of that study cautioned the clinical applicability of those results due to the publication dates of the included trials.…”

Donor Human Milk Update: Evidence, Mechanisms, and Priorities for Research and Practice

“…Human milk-fed has been used to describe characteristics of study samples 64 and as an outcome variable in intervention studies. 39,65 Recent systematic reviews on the safety and efficacy of probiotics illustrate the limitations of using a common human milk feeding grouping when differences in MOM and DHM could impact outcome differently. 64,66–68 Only one review discussed the potential interaction between probiotics and type of feeding, but this comparison was between MOM- and formula-fed infants, not MOM- and DHM-fed infants.…”

Implementation of a Donor Milk Program Is Associated with Greater Consumption of Mothers’ Own Milk among VLBW Infants in a US, Level 3 NICU

“…7 A previous US study demonstrated that implementation of a DM program was associated with increased MOM consumption among very low birth weight (VLBW) infants in the first month of life, 7 but this study did not seek to determine whether MOM production was sustained throughout hospitalization until discharge. 7 A previous US study demonstrated that implementation of a DM program was associated with increased MOM consumption among very low birth weight (VLBW) infants in the first month of life, 7 but this study did not seek to determine whether MOM production was sustained throughout hospitalization until discharge.…”