Who Benefits From Milk Banks?
Premature infants weighing less than 1,500 grams (about 3 pounds, 5 ounces) at birth receive the bulk of the milk from human milk banks, explains Nancy Wight, MD, neonatologist, and professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. Babies who reject formula and, as a result, experience inadequate growth, are also prime candidates for milk banks. Neonatologists prescribe breast milk for these infants because of the specific advantages it offers. Breast milk protects against necrotizing enterocolitis, an intestinal disease to which premature infants are susceptible. “It gives these babies three to four times more protection. To me, that’s a big seller,” says Donna More, administrator of Delaware-based Christiana Care Health system’s milk bank, in operation since 1947. Premature babies fed breast milk have shorter stays in neonatal intensive care units than those who consume formula — about 15 days on average — and are less likely to develop retinopathy (retina problem
