One of the side effects of the Pediatrics article on donor milk having no  
advantages over preterm formula has already happened. I received an e-mail from  
a lactation consultant in a NICU saying that her unit will now cease looking  
into the use of donor milk for preterm infants because it "isn't any better 
than  the free preterm formula they receive." The fallout is unfortunate. The 
study in  my mind still does not evaluate the outcomes between the use of donor 
human milk  and preterm formula. When 21% of the donor milk infants were 
switched to preterm  formula but still included in the donor milk sample, the 
analysis of that sample  is now a mixture of 2 distinct groups. My question still 
stands as to why this  was done and how can a conclusion be drawn that 
outcomes from the use of donor  milk are not different than those from preterm 
formula? It almost  looks like the formula diluted any effect that donor milk would 
have on the 2  outcomes measured, late onset sepsis and occurrence of NEC. No 
long  term outcomes were studied, just the conclusion given that "beneficial  
short-term outcomes for extremely premature infants are not supported by the  
substitution of pasteurized donor milk for mother's milk." Too bad.
 
Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA

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