Reliable access to pasteurised donor human milk was associated with a 38% lower risk of the life-threatening bowel disease in babies born before 28 weeks’ gestation.
Access to pasteurised donor human milk in Australian neonatal intensive care units was linked with a lower rate of necrotising enterocolitis in very premature babies, according to research published by Lifeblood. The study looked at infants born before 28 weeks’ gestation and found that when donor milk was reliably available in the unit where they were treated, the risk of necrotising enterocolitis fell by 38% after adjustment for other risks. Necrotising enterocolitis is a serious bowel disease that can be life-threatening in preterm infants.
The research drew on data from 15 eligible neonatal intensive care units and compared outcomes in periods when units received Lifeblood pasteurised donor human milk with periods when they did not. It also found a small reduction in retinopathy of prematurity, an eye condition linked to abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina, while rates of infection, death before discharge and length of stay were not clearly affected. However, the authors said the findings should not be read as a replacement for breast milk from the baby’s mother. They stressed that donor milk should sit alongside strong breastfeeding and lactation support, rather than substitute for it.
Lifeblood said it began building a centralised milk service in 2018 to supply preterm infants who did not have access to another source of human milk. International studies have long suggested that donor milk can reduce necrotising enterocolitis and improve feed tolerance when mother’s own milk is unavailable, but the Australian study adds local evidence that the benefit can also be seen in a national health system. The researchers also noted a trade-off: babies in units with donor milk available were discharged at a lower average weight and were slightly less likely to be receiving breast milk at discharge, though that difference was not statistically significant.
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