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Human milk feeding and physical growth in very low-birth-weight infants: a multicenter study

Journal of Perinatology volume 40, pages 1246–1252 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objectives

Quantify associations of human milk feeding with in-hospital growth and examine differences by human milk type (maternal or donor).

Study design

We included infants born <33 weeks’ gestation and <1500 g from 9 Neonatal Intensive Care Units (n = 1429). We estimated associations of percent of visit days fed any human milk (maternal or donor) and percent of days fed donor milk with weight, length, and head z-scores at discharge or transfer using a linear mixed model, adjusting for birth size and other covariates.

Results

Any human milk feeding was not associated with growth outcomes. Infants fed donor milk on ≥50% of days had less favorable growth vs. those fed <50% [z-scores—weight: −1.1 vs. −0.7 (p = 0.04); length: −1.5 vs. −1.1 (p = 0.04); head −1.0 vs. −0.3 (p < 0.01)].

Conclusions

Fortified human milk was not associated with impaired growth compared with preterm formula.

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Fig. 1: Least square means adjusted estimates of z-scores at discharge (95% CI) by percent of days fed any human milk in 1429 infants born <33 weeks of gestation or <1500 g.
Fig. 2: Least square means adjusted estimates of z-scores at discharge (95% CI) by percent of days fed any donor milk (no formula) in 594 infants born <33 weeks of gestation or <1500 g.

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Acknowledgements

Neonatal Quality Improvement Collaborative of Massachusetts (NeoQIC) includes: Bay State Medical Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, South Shore Hospital, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Tufts Medical Center, and UMass Medical Center.

Funding

The study is supported by the CDC (1U38PD005373) and W.K. Kellogg Foundation (P3031871).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Betina Soldateli & Mandy Belfort

  2. Department of Nutrition, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Betina Soldateli

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Margaret Parker

  4. Program for Patient Safety and Quality, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Patrice Melvin

  5. Dept. of Neonatology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Munish Gupta

Authors
  1. Betina Soldateli
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  2. Margaret Parker
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  3. Patrice Melvin
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  4. Munish Gupta
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  5. Mandy Belfort
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Contributions

MB, MP, and MG conceptualized the project. MB developed the research plan. BS and PM conducted the statistical analysis. MB, BS, MP, PM, and MG contributed to interpretation of the results. BS drafted the manuscript. MB, MP, PM and MG critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors are responsible for the final content of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Betina Soldateli.

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Conflict of interest

MB and MP report that they are volunteer members of the Research Advisory Board of the Mother’s Milk Bank Northeast (USA). We have no other conflicts of interest to disclose.

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Soldateli, B., Parker, M., Melvin, P. et al. Human milk feeding and physical growth in very low-birth-weight infants: a multicenter study. J Perinatol 40, 1246–1252 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-020-0705-2

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