Press Releases
CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif., Jun 10, 2014 -- Prolacta Bioscience, the pioneer in human milk-based nutritional products, has announced that the journal Breastfeeding Medicine has published an analysis concluding that an exclusive human milk diet results in lower mortality for extremely premature infants. The peer-reviewed analysis by Steven A. Abrams, MD, Medical Director of the Neonatal Nutrition Program at Baylor College of Medicine, Richard Schanler, MD, Director of Neonatal Services at Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York and North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System and their colleagues also found an increase in the likelihood of developing necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), NEC requiring surgery, or sepsis, as the volume of milk containing cow milk-based protein fed to the infants in the control group increased.
The article, “Greater Mortality and Morbidity in Extremely Preterm Infants Fed a Diet Containing Cow Milk Protein Products,” combined the data from two previously reported trials, and can be found online at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/bfm.2014.0024. The article evaluated extremely premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) weighing less than 1,250 g at birth, who received a diet consisting of either human milk fortified with a human milk protein-based fortifier, or a diet containing varying amounts of cow milk-based protein. The analysis showed decreased mortality and NEC rates for those premature infants on the exclusive human milk diet. Additionally, for every 10% increase in the volume of milk containing cow milk-based protein fed, the risk of sepsis increased by 17.9%. Sepsis is a potentially fatal bacterial infection of the bloodstream resulting in widespread inflammation.
“This analysis adds to the mounting evidence demonstrating that an exclusive human milk-based diet has the best health benefits and outcomes for extremely premature infants,” said Dr. Abrams. The analysis has been published on the heels of the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Annual Meeting, which had a record number of abstracts focused on human milk-based diets for premature infants this year.
Additionally, Prolacta sponsored a CME accredited symposium in Vancouver on May 4th during PAS entitled 100% Human Milk Diets: Meeting the Challenge of Infant Nutrition in the NICU that was standing room only. Prolacta is the only company with a complete line of human milk-based nutritional products that are clinically proven to improve health outcomes of critically ill preemies.
Prolacta’s product line of NICU nutritional products includes Prolact+ H2MF® Human Milk Fortifier, Prolact CR™ Human Milk Caloric Fortifier, PremieLact™ Human Milk for Trophic Feeds, Prolact HM™ Standardized Donor Milk Products, and Prolact RTF™ Human Milk-based Premature Infant Formula. Prolacta’s full line of human milk-based products helps hospitals meet the American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement regarding breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Recommendations include the use of human milk for all preterm infants, whether mother’s own milk or when mother’s own milk is not available, pasteurized donor human milk.
Prolacta Bioscience, Inc. is a privately-held life sciences company dedicated to Advancing the Science of Human Milk®. The company pioneered the development of human milk-based nutritional products to meet the needs of critically ill, premature infants in the NICU and leads the industry in the quality and safety of nutritional products made from breast milk. Prolacta operates the first and only pharmaceutical-grade manufacturing facility for the processing of human breast milk. For more information please visit www.prolacta.com.
Loren Kosmont
310-721-9444
Lkosmont@prolacta.com