Is early breast milk fortification more effective in preterm infants?: a clinical trial.
OBJECTIVE
Breast feeding alone does not provide adequate nutrition for growth in preterm infants; therefore, fortifiers are added when over 70-80 cc/kg/day of breast milk is tolerated. As there are few studies comparing early and late breast milk fortification, the following study was conducted.


STUDY DESIGN
This double-blind clinical trial was performed on 80 preterm infants (gestational age of 28-34 weeks, birth weight <2 kg). The newborns were randomly divided into two groups to receive either early or late fortification. The primary and secondary outcomes were the difference in growth indices and complications (including feeding intolerance, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and septicemia) between the two groups, respectively.


RESULTS
Both groups showed increases in growth indices; however, there was no statistically significant difference in increments of growth indices and complications between the two groups.


CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that early fortification from the first feeding in neonates with exclusive breast feeding did not improve growth in the first 4 weeks in preterm neonates in comparison with late fortification; so early fortification may not be cost effective.
['Alizadeh Taheri|Peymaneh|P|', 'Sajjadian|Negar|N|', 'Asgharyan Fargi|Marzieh|M|', 'Shariat|Mamak|M|']
D019587:Dietary Supplements D004311:Double-Blind Method D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing D005260:Female D000073923:Food Intolerance D005527:Food, Fortified D006801:Humans D007231:Infant, Newborn D007234:Infant, Premature D007492:Iran D008297:Male D008895:Milk, Human D018805:Sepsis D013997:Time Factors
late fortification Early fortification human milk preterm newborns