Premature babies fed on breast-milk, with some nutrients added in hospital, grew and developed faster overall than preemies fed bottle formula, a new study finds. The research was conducted by scientists in Chile, the U.S., Britain, and Canada, who observed the growth and development of babies born under four pounds (normal birth weight is about eight pounds).
“There is a huge body of literature that indicates that breastfeeding is the best choice for term-born infants,” says lead author of the study Dr. Deborah O’Connor, director of clinical dietetics at The Hospital for Sick Children. The benefits of breast-milk have been well-known for a long time and have been widely advertised by a multitude of breastfeeding advocacy groups. Breast-milk contains a unique combination of fats, sugars, minerals, proteins, vitamins, and enzymes that have been customized through human evolution to provide the best nutrition for a growing infant.
Also, a mother’s milk contains antibodies to all of the diseases she has ever come into contact with. The concentration of these anti-infective factors is highest in the breast milk that comes out during the first few days after birth. This early breast-milk, called colostrum, is often not white but bright orange in some women because it is so highly concentrated with antibodies. These antibodies protect the infant against infection-many studies have shown that breast-fed infants have reduced risk of illnesses like meningitis, diabetes, colds, and ear infections. Breast-milk is also easier to digest, so breast-fed infants have less constipation and diarrhea than bottle-fed babies.
Previous studies, however, have suggested that premature babies, will grow slower after they leave the hospital if they are fed breast-milk than babies fed formula specially designed for preemies. This formula contains much higher levels of energy, protein, calcium, phosphorus and other nutrients than the formulas you can typically buy at a store for normal babies. It seems that the best food of all for premature infants is breast-milk fortified with added nutrients-it has been known for about ten years that fortified breast milk will help protect premature babies from infection during their stay in hospital.
But after these babies leave the hospital, they are normally fed untreated breast-milk. “Very little research is available to suggest what impact feeding choices have on growth and development of premature babies after they go home. That is what we were really interested in,” says O’Connor. In this study, doctors measured the growth of babies for 14 months after they left the hospital, and they also measured the development of their motor, visual, and language skills. They found that babies fed enriched breast-milk grew and developed just as fast, if not faster, than babies fed formula.
