The thing we have to keep in mind about preemies is that as soon as they are
born, they are behind. Fortifier is not meant to help babies grow faster
just for the sake of growing faster. It is meant to help them catch up to
their term counterparts. As we know by the differences in premature vs. term
breastmilk - preemies are entirely different creatures than term infants!

For instance - most babies' bones develop because the baby gets calcium and
other minerals and nutrients via the placenta. For a preemie - there is no
way to ever make up the amount of calcium the baby would have gotten had he
been born later. Fortifier helps to make up more of it than he would
otherwise get, but it's still lacking. What they do get they have difficulty
absorbing through their immature gut, and difficulty utilizing! Even
premature breastmilk cannot contain all of these things for an extended
period of time that may be required by an very early infant.

Fortifier is reserved ONLY for those babies whose calcium, chloride and
other needs cannot be met via the digestive tract using currently acceptable
feedings (including artificial milks). There is research out there to
support the use of fortifier in many cases - but certainly not just to
equate faster growth. I hope that helps.

Michelle Meeks, RN
(NICU)

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