Throwing two cents in here... while I respect the work of many of the authors ( despite their funding sources ) who have done such extensive publication regarding the need for fortification and preterm formulas.. the one question NONE of them have ever been able to answer when I've asked is this. In every one of those studies, on the comparision slides of preterm EBM, Fortified EBM and preterm formula the caloric and nutrient contents listed under the EBM column is from a single set of medically "known" values for preterm milk. BUT... they never again reevaluate the EBM for nutritional/caloric changes or for variences between each and every nursing mother. When I remind them that EBM is not a stagnant product and human milk values change as the infants change, all the researchers have either replied, "well, I'll have to check with our dietician" or they have ignored my query. Don't get me wrong.. I don't totally disagree that in some cases of micronates, they might need fortification but my thought is that if we are using this fortification medically to "treat" a condition, should'nt it be treated like any other medical concern and clear clinical lab values of the proposed "lacks" in that infants specific maternal milk be either ruled out or identified first and then adjusted per infant? Otherwise , it seems to remain an "everybody treatment" - just done cause it sounds "reasonable". I can't see how its ( fortification) "benefits" are able to be clinically justified until research clearly assess, address and compare the varience of changes that can affect maternal milk values. Would make for an awful lot of slides :) Couldn't you see it... a speaker up presenting his research and slide after slide document the changes breastmilk makes while the ol' fortifiers/formula show their true colors..... as the stagnant product! Lisa Jones RN RLC IBCLC *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html