In reading the literature of our dietician in NICU, we have concluded that if there is not enough breast milk and formula must be added to the baby's diet, it is helpful to put the two together, especially for premies, because of the substances in breast milk which improve the baby's ability to digest and utilize the formula.  The lactoferrin issue is a tradeoff, but we feel the benefits outweigh what is lost, especially since preterm babies have regular hematocrits to check iron levels anyway.  Gastric residuals are consistently less in our population of babies when breast milk is mixed with the formula
Deanne, R.N.  IBCLC
NICU

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