Recent Concepts in Human Milk Fortification

In this presentation, Jean-Charles Picaud notes that postnatal growth failure remains a problem worldwide for around 50 percent of hospitalized preterm infants. Fortified human milk (HM) is the preferred nutrition for preterm infants, as it supports postnatal growth together with providing these infants with essential bioactive components, even if pasteurized (growth factors, oligosaccharides...).

As nutritional needs differ significantly from one preterm infant to the other, as these needs vary in the same infant during hospitalization, and as the nutrients’ content of human milk is variable, individualized fortification should be proposed for some preterm infants.   Jean-Charles Picaud reviews the latest research into standardized fortification vs. individualized fortification, showing the importance of the last one on providing additional protein supplementation when needed, which is crucial for the appropriate growth of preterm infants.