The purpose of this study is to determine whether low birth weight (LBW) infants fed human milk (HM)supplemented with a specially designed powdered human milk fortifier until 12 weeks after hospital discharge will have better growth and neurodevelopment than infants fed HM alone.
Consensus exists in the literature that a significant proportion of low birth weight (LBW, \<1800 g) infants leave hospital with overt signs of under-nutrition (eg. growth retardation). Recent evidence from randomized control trials suggest that provision of nutrient-enriched feeding to formula-fed premature infants after hospital discharge improves their growth, accretion of lean body mass and bone mineral content compared to infants fed a standard term formula. While available data suggest an advantage of human milk feeding after hospital discharge, experimental evidence on which to base guidelines to enrich, or not to enrich, human milk (HM) are notably absent.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
40
The Credit Valley Hospital
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Rouge Valley Centenary
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The Scarborough Hospital
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Toronto East General Hospital
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Growth (weight, length and head circumference)
Body composition (fat-free mass, whole body mineral content, fat mass
Milk consumption
Estimated energy and nutrient intakes
Duration/exclusivity of breastfeeding
Morbidity (serious adverse events, hospital re-admissions)
Development (mental, motor, visual and language)
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