Human Milk Fortifiers Help Health Outcomes.

• Position: PREMATURE BIRTHS

More than 380,000 babies are born prematurely in the U.S. each year, according to the March of Dimes. "Preemies" can be severely underweight and struggle to get the nutrients they need from breast milk alone, so neonatal intensive care units provide an additional fortifier--either in the form of cow's milk or manufactured from donor breast milk--to keep them healthy.

A research study from the University of Missouri and University College London suggests that using a human-based milk fortifier has better health outcomes for severely underweight, premature babies compared to traditional, cow-based fortifiers.

Jan Sherman, professor in the MU School of Nursing, collaborated with Alan Lucas, director of the Childhood Nutrition Centre at University College London, to perform a meta-analysis on various studies involving severely underweight, premature babies in the U.S., Canada, and Austria who received either traditional cow-based milk fortifiers or the human-based variety.

By comparing their health outcomes...