37 - Daily Fresh Mother’s Milk Feeding in Very Low and Extremely Low Birth Weight (VLBW and ELBW) Infants

Saturday, April 29, 2023

3:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET

Poster Number: 37
Publication Number: 37.202

Rachel Martin, Boston Children's Hospital, Woburn, MA, United States; Sean Lawrence. Sweeney, Northwest Newborn Specialist PC, Beaverton, OR, United States; Shaban Demirel, Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel, Portland, OR, United States; Elizabeth McCulley, Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel, Portland, OR, United States; Robert K. Huston, Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel, PortlandOregon, OR, United States

Presenting Author(s)

Robert K. Huston, MD

Neonatologist
Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel
PortlandOregon, Oregon, United States

Background: Freshly pumped mother’s milk (FMM) contains stem cells which can migrate into various organs and can have an exocrine function and assist in repair of damaged organs. A pilot study (Sun H et al, Scientific Reports; January 30. 2019) found that one FMM feeding daily in infants < 30 weeks gestation was associated with decreased morbidity.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the implementation of a daily FMM feeding effects the percent of mothers that continue to pump breast milk or breastfeed through the entirety of the infant’s NICU admission as well as growth in VLBW infants.

Design/Methods:

A retrospective study of the outcomes of a cohort of VLBW infants who received one feeding daily of FMM versus a cohort who did not receive FMM.

Results:

There were no significant differences in demographic and clinical outcomes (Table 1). The median (IQR) of the % of MM in daily feedings at discharge was 100(100-100) vs 80(0-100), p=0.009 (Wilcoxon rank sum test) for the study group (N=25) vs control group (N=25). Anthropometric outcomes are shown in Table 2. There was a significant improvement in length gain velocity in the study group.

Conclusion(s):

Provision of one FMM feeding per day appears to positively affect the intake of mother’s own milk at discharge and the growth in length during NICU stay for VLBW infants.