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Human Milk and ROP
Association of Human Milk Feedings and a Reduction of Retinopathy of Prematurity in Very Low Birth Weight Infants. Hylander MA, Strobino DM, Pezzullo JC, et al. J Perinatol 2001 (Sep); 21: 356 – 362.
This observational cohort study was designed to examine the effect of human
milk feedings on the incidence of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) in VLBW infants. 174 VLBW infants who survived to receive enteral feedings and ophthalmologic examination for ROP were included. The major predictors of ROP were similar in both feeding groups including gestational age, days on mechanical ventilation and days on supplemental oxygen. The incidence of ROP differed significantly by type of feeding (human milk – 41% vs. formula – 65%, p = 0.005). Human milk feeding independently correlated with reduced odds of ROP (OR = 0.42; 95% CI = 0.19 – 0.93; p=0.03) after controlling for extraneous variables.Comments. The list of reasons to feed breast milk to premature babies keeps growing. We need to be sure that the mothers of our VLBW infants understand the importance of expressing milk for their babies, and that we are doing everything possible to support them in that effort.