Human milk is designed for human babies. Cow milk is designed for calves. Cat milk is designed for kittens. Bear milk is designed for cubs. And the list goes on…

Human milk has everything human babies need—most human babies that is. The phrase, got milk, takes on new meaning, when the babies being fed are extremely premature—very low birth weight (VLBW) babies.

The antibacterial activity of human milk protects VLBW babies from infections including sepsis and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)—but human milk alone may not satisfy the special nutritional needs of babies born significantly premature.

So what’s the best way to protect VLBW babies from infection and still meet their nutritional needs?

Researchers at the University of Utah think they found the answer—a human milk-derived human milk fortifier. Drs. Chan, Lee, and Rechtman from the University of Utah investigated the effects of human milk-derived fortifier (HMDF) on the antibacterial activity of human milk. The results of their investigation can be found in the December 2007 issue of the journal, Breastfeeding Medicine.

The researchers compared the effects on human milk of a human milk-derived frozen fortifier versus a powdered cow milk-based fortifier. Ten lactating mothers who had given birth prematurely participated in the study.

Results show that human milk (HM) inhibits the growth of Enterobacter sakazaki, Escherichia coli, Clostridium dificile, and Shigella soneii. There was no change in the level of bacterial inhibition when human milk was mixed with a human milk-derived fortifier. However, the addition of a cow milk-based fortifier containing iron nearly eliminated the inhibitory activity of the milk. Similar results have been reported in prior studies, suggesting that it is not the addition of a cow milk-based fortifier that compromises the antibacterial activity of human milk, but the addition of iron.

No comparison was made between the effects of human milk-derived fortifier and cowmilk-based fortifier without iron. In addition, there was no data on cost and availability of human milk-derived fortifier. Currently only one company, Prolacta Bioscience, offers a commercially available human milk-derived fortifier.