NICU Lactation Guide: The importance of breast milk

Pasteurized donor human milk in the NICU has been found to improve the outcomes of premature babies in the NICU by: 

• Providing antibodies that help prevent infection and devastating bowel diseases.
• Providing growth hormones to optimize development. Improving feeding tolerance.
• Aiding in the maturation of the gastrointestinal tract.
•  Decreasing the chance of allergy development.
• Providing anti-inflammatory and healing proteins.
• Improving eye and brain development.

Human milk treatments also benefit babies and children in the following ways: 

• Lower rates of severe retinopathy of prematurity.
• Fewer hospital re-admissions after NICU discharge.
• At least 58% decrease in risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).
• 36% decrease in risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
• 27% decrease in risk for asthma, skin disorders and eczema.
• Up to a 30% reduction in type 1 diabetes.
• 15-20% decrease in the risk for specific leukemia-related cancers.
• Decrease in risk for irritable bowel syndrome by 31%.
• 52% decreased in risk for celiac disease.
• Decrease in risk for obesity later in life. 
• Higher intelligence scores noted at 8 years of age for patients who received mother’s milk as infants in the NICU.

Donor human milk is provided to our NICU by the King's Daughters Milk Bank. This milk goes through a rigorous pasteurization process and lab testing to ensure it is safe for our most critically ill babies.