Your baby's nutrition needs

Prolacta > Parents > Your baby's nutrition needs

NICU dietary needs

Preemies miss out on the big growth spurt that happens during the last trimester of pregnancy.

To make up for the growth they missed in-utero, preemies need more calories, protein, and minerals than what breastmilk alone can provide. This added nutrition is vital to their survival, growth, and development.

This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends adding a “human milk fortifier” to mother’s own milk or pasteurized donor breastmilk for babies born weighing 3.3 pounds (1500 grams) or less¹.

See the graphic to the right for information about the importance of a 100% human milk diet in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Dietary needs of term infants with gastroschisis

Term babies with gastroschisis have special nutritional needs considering their delicate gastrointestinal system. When recovering from surgery, these term babies need human milk and may need human-milk based fortifiers for additional nutrition to help recover from surgery.

Prolacta’s Surgifort fortifier contains calories, protein, fat, and carbohydrate derived from donated human milk, with added minerals. In a case series of term infants recovering from gastroschisis repair, those who received Surgifort showed (or demonstrated):

Reduced the time to full feeds²
Improved weight gain velocity²

Should I provide breastmilk for my baby?

Yes! Breastmilk has enormous health benefits.

Breastmilk is vital nutrition for all babies. Nothing else provides the same benefits. In preterm infants, breastmilk is associated with:

Reduced infection and inflammatory disease
Enhanced neurodevelopmental outcomes
Healthy early postnatal growth patterns

The AAP has reaffirmed the importance of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months for all babies. The AAP also recommends the use of breastmilk for all preterm babies, preferably mother’s own milk or pasteurized donor breastmilk¹.

Potential long-term benefits for preterm infants fed a 100% human milk diet

According to a study³ with 1,587 infants with a birth weight of up to 2 pounds 12 ounces (<1,250 grams) who were fed a 100% human milk diet including Prolacta’s products experienced decreases in serious complications, including:

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)—also referred to as chronic lung disease

Late-onset sepsis – a serious bacterial infection that can cause neurodevelopmental disabilities
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)—which can lead to blindness
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)—an intestinal disease and a leading cause of mortality in preemies²^,³

Understanding fortification

The term “Human Milk Fortifier (HMF)” is a generic product name for a nutritional supplement that hospitals can add to mother’s own milk or donor breastmilk.

But did you know that not all “HMFs” are made from human milk?

There are two fortifiers made exclusively from 100% donor breastmilk: Prolact+ H2MF® human milk fortifier (human, pasteurized) and Surgifort® human milk fortifier (human, pasteurized). All other products labeled “HMFs” are made from cow milk.

Importance of bioactivity in human milk

Human milk is a complex liquid with many different compounds that make it the perfect nutrition for infants. Human milk also provides many protective factors against complications. Numerous studies have been conducted to identify the components of human milk and their influence on infant health and development. Many bioactive compounds are now recognized for their importance in immunity, growth, neurodevelopment, and overall long-term health.

Prolacta is the only human milk-based nutrition provider with a patented manufacturing process demonstrated to best retain essential bioactive components.⁴^,⁵^,⁶

Clinical evidence

We’re committed to supporting research in the study of human milk and infant nutrition. To date, more than 30+ studies have been published on this topic.

When used as part of a 100% human milk diet, Prolacta’s nutritional products are clinically proven to improve health outcomes⁸^,⁹^,¹⁰^,¹¹^,¹² and reduce hospital costs¹³^,¹⁴ for extremely premature infants as compared to cow milk-based fortifier or cow milk-based preterm formula.

As part of a 100% human milk diet, Surgifort fortifier has been found to reduce the time to full feeds as well as improve weight gain velocity in babies recovering from gastroschisis repair.¹⁵

More than 100,000 fragile premature and critically ill infants throughout the world have benefited from Prolacta’s nutritional products, even more can thrive through better nutrition. ¹⁶

100% human milk diet

A 100% human milk diet is achieved when 100% of protein, fat, and carbohydrate are from human milk.

This diet includes:

Mother’s own milk (preferred)
Donor breastmilk (DM) if mother’s own milk is not available
Human milk–based human milk fortifiers

With Prolacta’s products as part of a 100% human milk diet, the risk of complications and feeding intolerance associated with cow milk–based fortifiers have been shown to be significantly reduced.⁸^,⁹^,¹⁰^,¹³