Donor Human Milk for Preterm Infants. What It Is, What It Can Do, and What Still Needs to Be Learned

Abstract

Donor human milk is a dietary intervention rapidly increasing in usage in the very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm population. Donor milk may decrease risk of necrotizing enterocolitis and improve neurodevelopmental outcomes in VLBW infants compared with formula diets. The exclusive human milk diet shows promise as an intervention to decrease risk of necrotizing enterocolitis compared with formula. Further research is needed to assess the impact of donor human milk on infectious, growth, and neurodevelopmental outcomes of VLBW infants, as well as the effect of milk fortifier choice (human vs bovine) on these outcomes. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.