(NewsUSA) - November is Prematurity Awareness Month, a time to focus on the more than 380,000 babies born too early in the U.S. each year. For families whose little one arrives weeks or months earlier than expected, understanding advances in premature infant nutrition can help reduce complications during the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) journey.

Feeding Preemies Better 

For the smallest, most fragile preemies, nutritional advances over the past two decades have dramatically improved health outcomes. Today, babies born as early as 22 weeks can not only survive, they can thrive.

Premature babies need 20-40% more calories and protein than full-term babies. This is why doctors often add something called a nutritional “fortifier” to mom’s breastmilk or donor milk to provide the extra nutrition these babies need for healthy growth and development.

There are two types of fortifiers available: cow milk-based and breastmilk-based. In the U.S., both are labeled "human milk fortifiers," however only those from Prolacta Bioscience are made from 100% donor breastmilk, free from cow milk and corn syrup. This difference can be life-changing, especially for babies born weighing 2.75 pounds or less. Studies spanning the past two decades have shown that cow milk-based fortifiers increase the risk of serious complications, including necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a potentially fatal intestinal disease.

Knowledge Drives Real Change

Multiple studies show fragile preemies fed fortifiers made from donor breastmilk have better outcomes, fewer complications, and shorter hospital stays, compared to preemies fed cow milk-based products.   

What preemies are fed in the NICU doesn’t just matter today — it impacts tomorrow’s milestones. Most recently, an independent study evaluated the association between an exclusive human milk diet and motor function impairment at 3 years of corrected age. Read more about the published findings.

This is why leading advocates for premature infants and their families, such as the National Black Nurses Association, Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, NICU Parent Network, Project NICU, Once Upon a Preemie Inc., and many others support the adoption of breastmilk-based nutrition in the NICU for the smallest, most fragile preemies, particularly to address health disparities.  

Access to nutritional options can help reduce these disparities and improve outcomes for all premature babies, regardless of their background. Recent data points to the preterm birth rate among Black babies as 1.5 times higher than the rate among all other babies, and the infant death rate of Black babies is nearly twice the national average, according to the March of Dimes.

Parents Have a Choice in the NICU

This year alone, more than half of the Level 3 & 4 NICUs in the U.S. have used 100% breastmilk-based fortifiers for their smallest patients. If your baby is in a NICU that doesn’t provide this option, talk to your care team. Hospitals nationwide can order Prolacta’s breastmilk-based fortifiers for overnight delivery, even if they don't routinely offer them. Knowing your options helps ensure your baby gets the nutrition they need to grow strong and thrive. Use your voice, since your little one can’t use theirs.