Anyone interested in this topic of breastfeeding premature infants should
read the following chapter:

Martinez, F.E., and I.D. Desai  1995
        Human Milk and Premature Infants.  In A.P. Simopoulos, J.E. Dutra de
Oliveira, and I.D. Desai (editors) Behavioral and Metabolic Aspects of
Breastfeeding: International Trends.  World Review of Nutrition and
Dietetics, Volume 78, pp. 55-73.  Published by Karger, of Basel, Switzerland.


        Here is the paragraph about this chapter that will appear in my
review of this book in the journal "Ecology of Food and Nutrition":

"The third chapter, "Human Milk and Premature Infants," by Martinez and
Desai, summarizes the current state of research into how to best meet the
nutritional needs of premature infants.  It includes a detailed description
of research conducted by the authors on the effect of homogenization of
human milk on the fat content delivered to premature infants through feeding
tubes.  Early studies showed that fat globules in human milk tend to stick
to the inside of the feeding tube.  Ultrasonic homogenization of the milk
seems to lessen the fat loss in the tubing.  The author's never demonstrate
that an infant's own mother's milk is inadequate, but spend most of their
space arguing for the modification and fortification of human milk (whether
the infant's own mother's or banked human milk) rather than the use of
formulas "based on the milk of another species."  In particular, they point
out the difficulties of obtaining adequate "own mother's milk" in their
clinic population in Brazil, and outline a process of modification and
fortification of banked mature human milk that can be used to supplement the
premature infant, rather than resorting to formulas based on cows' milk.
This chapter provides an overview of the various options available for
feeding premature infants, and has an extensive bibliography."


Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology and Nutrition
Texas A&M University
Co-editor of "Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives"
Winner of the Margaret Mead Award, 1995, for "Dancing Skeletons: Life and
Death in West Africa"