Authors: Christina Galloway, Janet Howells
PMID: 25906493
Publication Type: Case Reports
ISSN: 0729-2759
Journal Title: Breastfeeding review : professional publication of the Nursing Mothers’ Association of Australia
Publication Date: 2015 Mar
Abstract
The increasing survival of preterm infants brings difficulties in achieving the best growth rates for them while in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). This paper describes an innovative approach of using breastmilk to maximise a preterm infant’s growth rate. Using a novel feeding plan, an improved rate of growth was achieved in a preterm infant despite fluid restriction. The feeding plan involved alternating stored preterm milk, which is known to be high in protein, with fresh hindmilk, milk collected at the end of an expression, which is higher in fat. A subsequent review of the literature found that this approach had not been described elsewhere. Counselling, education and support to mothers that enables the harnessing of breastmilk composition, or lactoengineering, could improve growth rates in preterm infants.
