Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding
Breast milk is the best food for all infants, as it contains all the nutrients that the infant requires in amounts tailored for their individual needs, and provides numerous health benefits to both mother and infant.8-10 It is especially important that preterm infants receive breast milk, as it contains both nutritive and non-nutritive benefits essential to preterm infants. Breast milk can help prevent neurodevelopmental impairment associated with their low birth weight and gestational age. Additionally, the various immune protective components that breast milk contains help protect the preterm infant from sepsis and reduce their risk of developing necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), a serious condition that can affect preterm infants.2,11,12
As breast milk does not provide adequate amounts of all nutrients that are required by preterm infants, it is recommended by the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) that preterm infants should receive expressed breast milk that is fortified,13 e.g. with SMA Gold Prem® Breast Milk Fortifier, to provide the additional nutrients required for optimal growth.
SMA Gold Prem® Breast Milk Fortifier
SMA Gold Prem® Breast Milk Fortifier is specifically designed to fortify breast milk for preterm infants to help support catch-up growth and development.
- Provides an additional 1.44 g protein per 100 ml of expressed breast milk; it is 100% whey protein, partially hydrolysed and is clinically proven to help improve weight gain in preterm infants14
- Contains medium chain triglycerides (MCTs); an easily absorbed fat and readily available energy source14
- Contains omega 3, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), to help support normal visual acuity and normal brain development15,16
- Food for special medical purposes
SMA Gold Prem® Breast Milk Fortifier is the only breast milk fortifier available in the UK and Ireland to contain iron,17,18 a micronutrient commonly deficient in preterm infants.2 It is a nutritional supplement designed to be added to expressed breast milk (EBM) for feeding preterm low birthweight infants, that comes in convenient 1g sachets (1g is added to 25ml EBM).