Press Releases
DUARTE, Calif., Dec. 1, 2022 – Prolacta Bioscience®, the world’s leading hospital provider of 100% human milk-based nutritional products for critically ill, premature infants, announced today that two members of the Prolacta Clinical Advisory Board (PCAB) will present a webinar for clinicians who care for preterm infants titled “Improved Growth Metrics for Preterm Infants Supported With a Human Milk Diet” on Thursday, Dec. 1, at 9 a.m. PT.
The webinar will:
“This webinar will provide clinicians with high-quality education on this vulnerable patient population’s unique nutritional needs, especially around supporting growth — one of the top concerns for these fragile patients,” said Melinda Elliott, chief medical officer of Prolacta and a practicing neonatologist. “With the ever-growing body of scientific research showing the short- and long-term benefits of an EHMD, Prolacta is committed to providing clinicians with the knowledge and tools to improve patient outcomes.”
Co-presenter Patti Perks, MS, RDN, CNSC, has more than 20 years of experience working in neonatal nutrition in Virginia. She specializes in educating health care professionals by advising on the macro- and micronutrient needs of infants receiving specialized nutrition support.
“While it’s important to accurately assess infant growth in the NICU, current tracking approaches remain non-standard, and many factors affect growth goals,” Perks said. “Feeding an EHMD with human milk-based fortifiers allows early initiation and advancement of feeds and reduces the risk of some infections such as necrotizing enterocolitis1,2 and late-onset sepsis in premature infants.1,3,4 We look forward to delving deeper into the implications of an EHMD on growth during the webinar.”
Co-presenter Stacia Pegram, MA, RDN, LD, has been a neonatal dietitian in Columbia, South Carolina, for more than 20 years. She has a wide range of experience and expertise in leading neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nutrition initiatives, including the development and management of feeding guidelines, quality improvement programs and education of NICU staff.
“We’ll discuss the impact of an EHMD on growth metrics and neurodevelopmental outcomes,” Pegram said. “We’ll also emphasize that optimal nutrition in the NICU consists of human milk’s protective elements plus an accurate assessment of adequate growth.”
Perks and Pegram are members of the Prolacta Clinical Advisory Board (PCAB), a group of neonatologists, neonatal nursing leaders, and neonatal dietitians with broadly recognized clinical expertise. The PCAB’s mission is to share clinical expertise and emerging research to affect clinical practice, education, and outcomes in the NICU population. Prolacta’s newly expanded PCAB has replaced its previous Nutrition Advisory Committee (NAC) and Nursing Practice Advisory Council (NPAC).
For those interested in attending the webinar, please visit https://page.prolacta.com/improved-growth-metrics
About Human Milk-Based Nutritional Products
The major difference between cow milk-based and human milk-based nutritional products is the composition — notably, the bioactive components that are unique to human milk. These include immunoglobulins, lactoferrin, milk fat globule membrane, and the wide spectrum of prebiotics known as human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), which are not easily manufactured and thus are greatly decreased or missing from cow milk-based nutritional products.5 Bioactivity is thought to support infants’ immunity, development, growth, and long-term health.6
Prolacta’s 100% human milk-based nutritional products have the highest bioactivity in the human milk industry.7 Prolacta’s nutritional products are vat pasteurized using profiles defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure pathogen inactivation and the highest level of safety while retaining as much of the natural bioactivity of the milk as possible.8 Prolacta's vat pasteurized products retain higher bioactivity than products processed using other methods, including retort sterilization and UHT processing.7,9,10
About Prolacta Bioscience
Prolacta Bioscience® Inc. is a privately held, global life sciences company dedicated to Advancing the Science of Human Milk® to improve the health of critically ill, premature infants. Prolacta’s 100% human milk-based nutritional products have been evaluated in more than 20 clinical studies published in peer-reviewed journals. More than 80,000 premature infants have benefited from Prolacta’s nutritional products worldwide to date.11 Established in 1999, Prolacta is the world’s leading provider of human milk-based nutritional products for hospital use and is also exploring the therapeutic potential of human milk across a wide spectrum of diseases. Prolacta maintains the industry’s strictest quality and safety standards for screening, testing, and processing donor human milk. Operating the world’s first pharmaceutical-grade human milk processing facilities, Prolacta uses vat pasteurization and a patented, FDA-reviewed manufacturing process to ensure pathogen inactivation while protecting the nutritional composition and bioactivity of its human milk-based products. Prolacta is a global company with headquarters in Duarte, California, and can be found online on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
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Media Contact:
Loren Kosmont
Lkosmont@prolacta.com
310-721-9444
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