Hey mama, you’ve likely heard that the very best food for your newborn or growing baby is your breastmilk. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all infants receive only human milk for approximately six months after birth because of its many amazing benefits.
If you have a baby who is critically ill or needs to remain in the hospital—in the neonatal intensive care unit—your baby will have unique nutrition needs and your breastmilk is their best food.
How Human Milk Nourishes Your Baby
Babies born before 37 weeks who are fed human milk may experience several health benefits. Increasing the amount of mother’s own milk (MOM) in your baby’s diet is associated with better feeding with no complications, earlier full feedings, reduced days on nutrition through an IV, and a reduced need for an IV line.
In addition, human milk (not refrigerated or frozen) given at least once a day within four hours of being expressed helps your baby mature so they can take in more milk in one feeding. It’s important to keep in mind that when MOM isn’t available, donor human milk (DHM) is better than infant formula. As your preterm baby begins to learn their five senses, the ability to smell human milk during feedings increases how well they can suck on their fingers or toys.
Reduce Abdominal Infections
In infants born preterm, MOM is protective against the development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and severe NEC that requires surgery. NEC is a serious and common disease of the intestinal tract. It’s considered a medical emergency. There’s a dose-response relationship where the more MOM your baby receives, the better protected they are against NEC. MOM is most protective, but DHM also has protective benefits over infant formula. Exclusive human milk feeding in the first 7 days of life is particularly protective against the development of NEC in many infants.
Protect Against Sepsis
Human milk, especially the first milk that is produced, colostrum, protects preterm babies from developing sepsis. Sepsis is when the body has an extreme response to an infection. If your baby has any gastrointestinal disorder, and they’re only fed human milk, they’ll be at lower risk for infections and sepsis. In research studies, infants who received human milk to treat any oral infection also had less occurrences of thrush and pneumonia compared to babies who received saline (water) or a sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) solution.
Growth
Growth is critically important for all infants. When preterm infants are given small amounts of colostrum into their mouth, they regain their birth weight faster and have greater daily weight gain. Multiple studies have also found that preterm infants who receive colostrum in their mouth go home earlier.
Most preterm infants will require more nutrition than is available in human milk and need fortification to grow. Infants who receive fortified MOM grow better than infants who receive fortified DHM or preterm formula. Fresh MOM (within 4 hours of expression) is particularly good at promoting excellent growth.
Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)
There’s a growing body of evidence that supports human milk has a positive impact on Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)-related outcomes in preterm infants. ROP is an eye disease when abnormal blood vessels grow in the retina of the eye. Preterm infants fed human milk have a reduced risk of developing any stage of ROP or ROP requiring surgery. The timing of exposure to human milk has been found to be important in terms of ROP outcomes. Infants who receive human milk in the first week of life are more protected from ROP than infants who do not. In infants who do develop ROP, those who receive more human milk are more likely to have ROP resolved by the time of discharge.
Pain and Stress
Many research studies have found that infants who are exposed to the odor of MOM have reduced pain and stress responses. When preterm infants require a painful procedure, such as a heel prick, the odor of MOM has a calm and soothing effect, resulting in lower pain scores and reduced crying. The odor of DHM does not have the same effect, showing how powerful MOM is for babies.
Immunity, Inflammation, and the Microbiome
Research on the impact of human milk on the immune system, inflammation, and microbiome (community of microorganisms (such as fungi, bacteria, and viruses) that exists in a particular environment) helps provide some explanations for the positive impacts that human milk has on health outcomes in the most vulnerable infants. Preterm infants who are fed an exclusive human milk diet have been found to have higher levels of immune cells that help protect the body from pathogens. Preterm infants who receive more human milk have also been found to have faster maturation of the gastrointestinal tract and lower levels of inflammation within the gastrointestinal tract. These are key factors in the development of NEC and likely play a role in why preterm infants who receive more human milk are better protected from NEC. Human milk reduces inflammation, which contributes to many of the disease processes seen in vulnerable infants, and supports the diversity of the microbiome, which has both short-term and long-term impacts on health.
Mom is Best for Preterm Infants
Human milk is beneficial to all infants, but in particular, preterm infants and those requiring prolonged hospitalization for special medical needs benefit most. There are many challenges to providing MOM, especially when an infant is hospitalized, but any amount of MOM can be protective and even small amounts should be celebrated. Support by a lactation professional and a hospital-grade breast pump can help families to provide MOM. When colostrum or MOM expressed within four hours of the feeding is available, that should be used before MOM that has been refrigerated or frozen.
Human milk has the potential to improve the health, growth, and development of vulnerable, hospitalized infants by reducing the risk and severity of NEC, sepsis, infection, and ROP. Human milk also supports early brain development, protects the brain from injury, and reduces the risk of death across the most vulnerable infant populations. When MOM is not available, access to DHM provides benefits to infants over infant formula.
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