Human vs. Bovine Milk-based Fortifiers for Very Preterm Infants: A Comparative Analysis

This study focuses on very preterm infants who weigh less than expected at birth. While mother's milk is the best food for these infants, it often doesn't provide all the nutrients they need. To fill this gap, doctors usually add nutrient fortifiers made from cow's milk. However, there's growing interest in using fortifiers made from human milk instead, as they might be safer and healthier. This study aims to compare the effects of using human milk-based fortifiers (HMBF) and cow's milk-based fortifiers (BMBF) on the health of these preterm infants. It looks at data from two previous studies where infants were fed either with HMBF or BMBF. The study's goal is to understand if using HMBF can lower the risk of death, severe illness, or major feeding interruptions during the infants' hospital stay. In this study, participants from the two previous trials were either fed with HMBF or BMBF. The feeding intervention started as soon as the infants were assigned to one of these two groups. One of the studies allowed for personalized fortification based on milk analysis, while the other used standard fortification. The feeding intervention continued until the infants reached a certain age, were discharged, or started eating solid food. The study measured two main outcomes. First, it checked if the infants developed a serious digestive problem called NEC, a severe infection known as late-onset sepsis, or if they passed away. Second, it recorded if there were any interruptions in the infants' feeding that lasted for 12 hours or more, or if the feeding volume was reduced by more than half over the same time period.