La Leche League of the South Carolina Midlands is hosting the 2nd Annual Nationwide Miracle Milk™ Stroll on May 2 at 11 a.m. at Cayce Amphitheater. The event is a partnership between La Leche League USA, Best for Babes Foundation, and the NEC Society to raise funds and awareness for the life-saving power of human milk.
Every year donor milk is provided to premature babies in hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) for medically fragile infants. According to UNICEF, donor human milk use in hospitals for premature infants decreases the incidence of Necrotizing Entercolitis (NEC), a damaging and sometimes fatal disease of the intestines, by 79%. (For more information, please visit their website or Facebook page. Direct inquires can be emailed to Ashley Evans @ [email protected].)
When a baby is born severely preterm and weighs less than 1250 grams (just over 2lbs) breast IS best. It doesn’t necessarily have to mean actual breast feeding — but the baby truly needs human milk. Sometimes, due to traumatic/emergency deliveries milk supply is often delayed even if a mother has every intention of providing her own milk.
I learned this when my identical twin daughters were born ten weeks early. Although they were identical, they had a syndrome (Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome) that caused Kathryn to be overloaded with fluids and Tiny suffered from Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR).
Much of the first few days after my twins were born is very foggy. There was the emergency c-section to birth the babies that were ten weeks early and very sick. There was the fact that Kathryn’s heart was not working, her lungs were not working, and they could not stop the fluid from building up in her body. There were two days of being beside ourselves in worry and fear until she passed away.
Then there was Tiny. The whole 1lb 10 oz of her. She looked like a drowned squirrel, according to my father. I couldn’t hold her. I couldn’t even really touch her. I felt like I could do nothing for her except watch.
I had a very difficult time producing milk due to the trauma of the first few days. I kept at it diligently, despite many setbacks, frustrations and tears. While they wanted me to continue to try, my doctor also did not want me to be so stressed out about it. He told me that if I couldn’t produce the milk (and thankfully, she only needed a tiny bit for the first couple of weeks) they could give her donor milk. They would also fortify the milk with a very special product called a human-milk-fortifier, made from donated breast milk. Multiple clinical studies have shown that when extremely premature infants (500 g – 1250 g at birth) are fed a 100% human milk diet, as opposed to preterm formula or fortifier made from cow’s milk, there is a reduced risk of developing medical NEC or surgical NEC.[i]
Of course, I had a multitude of questions. I had never heard of donor breast milk or human-milk-fortifier.
The doctors explained the science to me about how important it was for the underdeveloped bodies, but honestly, I don’t remember everything they said beyond the gist: clinical studies have shown that an exclusive human milk diet protects the intestines and supports the growth of extremely premature infants (500 – 1,250 grams at birth). I had just received the run down the day before about all of the horrible medical issues a 1lb 10 oz baby could have, including bowel abruptions and NEC, so that’s all I needed to hear.
The science continues to support these assertions about the health benefits of an exclusive human milk diet for premature infants in the NICU, as opposed to cow milk-based nutrition or formula. Breastfeeding Medicine even published a study this year concluding that an exclusive human milk diet results in lower mortality for extremely premature infants.[ii]
In 2014, Dr. Hair, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor and neonatologist at Texas Children’s Hospital, led a team of researchers to compare the growth outcomes of premature infants who received an exclusive human milk diet (EHMD) and a human milk caloric fortifier made from human cream to a control group of premature infants receiving a standard EHMD feeding regimen. In the recent report in the Journal of Pediatrics,[iii] Dr. Hair states:
“For premature babies who weigh less than 1,250 grams (about 2 pounds, 3.2 ounces) one of the problems is that their lungs and other organs are still developing when they are born. If the infant gains weight and increases in length at a good rate while in the NICU, this helps improve their outcome…
Previously, we would add oils or infant formula to help premature babies grow, but we can now use a natural source from donor milk,” said Dr. Hair. Since November 2013, the NICU at Texas Children’s Hospital has changed its protocol to add this cream supplement to the diet of infants who weigh less than 1,500 grams.
Now, thanks to fantastic neonatal care and donor milk, Tiny is a thriving three year old. So many babies are saved by donated human milk.
So we hope to see you Saturday so that we can raise awareness about this important need!
