Annie Grace now 7 and thriving

Annie Grace has made great strides over the last 7 years, despite being born 8 weeks early. Her parents, Brandon and Jessica, were determined to get Prolacta’s products. Thanks to their persistence and the help of Prolacta's Medical Education team, they convinced the hospital to provide Prolacta products for their daughter.

Today, Annie Grace is extremely athletic and active.

“She is happy and healthy. She is outgoing and social. She is empathetic and kind. She is the most brilliant 7-year-old I have ever encountered. She’s an old soul. And she is involved in tons of activities: ballet, gymnastics, piano, basketball, karate, theater, and horseback riding. She lives to read, sing, dance, and she is a fast learner. She is such an incredible kiddo and I love her so much,” said beaming father Brandon.

Unfortunately, their story is similar to other parents who have to advocate for our products.

At 4 weeks of age, Annie Grace’s nurses noticed that her belly looked distended after a feeding session.

They decided to run tests on her for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

Brandon consulted Google to see what else he could learn about the disease. He found studies linking NEC to the inability of a premature newborn’s digestive tract to process cow milk-based fortifiers and formulas.

After learning this, Brandon asked Annie Grace’s nurses if they’d been fortifying Jessica's breast milk with a cow milk-based product, and they said they had. He was horrified as he had previously asked Annie Grace’s medical team to run any decision about her care by him prior to taking any action.

“Unfortunately, I’d been out of town for work on the day they made the decision to fortify. I asked them if they could replace the fortifier with one made from human milk, but they indicated that they did not carry it. I knew from my research online that there was only one company that produced a fortifier made from 100% human milk for babies born weighing less than 1,250 grams, and that was Prolacta Bioscience,” said Brandon.

“So, I reached out to our extensive network on social media and asked if anyone had any connections to anyone at Prolacta. Fortunately, one of our business partners did, and we were put in contact with Dr. Melinda Elliott, a neonatologist at Prolacta. We spoke to her, and she pointed us to research showing us that premature babies who were born weighing between 500 and 1,250 grams and fed Prolact+ H2MF® fortifier added to human milk had 77% lower odds of developing NEC when compared to infants receiving breast milk fortified with cow milk-based fortifier or formula.”

After learning more, he talked with the hospital’s administrators, convincing them to get our fortifiers into the NICU.

“Once on Prolacta, AG’s weight gain became stable and consistent, and her acid reflux subsided. The medical staff noticed how well she was doing on Prolacta and decided to offer all babies born weighing less than 1,250 grams a 100% human milk-based fortifier! Our baby girl already made an impact on the world! After 34 days in the NICU, Annie Grace was discharged, weighing 4 lb 5 oz,” said Brandon.

*Any views, opinions, findings, assertions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are solely those of the individual. The content is provided for informational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice.