Early enteral nutrition with mothers’ own milk, donor human milk, or a combination of both on neonatal feeding milestones: a cross-sectional study

Objective To evaluate the association between early enteral nutrition (EN) with mothers’ own milk (MOM), donor human milk (DHM), or a combination on time to human milk (HM) fortification, time to full EN, and parenteral nutrition (PN) duration. Study design Cross-sectional retrospective chart review of 359 preterm infants grouped by HM type. A generalized linear model was used to analyze the impact of HM type on days to HM fortification, full EN, and PN duration. Results Median gestational age was 28.9 (27.1–30.4) weeks; mean birth weight was 1060.5 ± 248.9 g. HM fortification occurred at 5.0 (4.0–7.0) days, full EN at 9.0 (7.0–11.0) days, and PN duration was 10.0 (9.0–13.0) days. No significant differences were found across HM groups for HM fortification ( P = 0.787), full EN ( P = 0.724), or PN days ( P = 0.71). Conclusion Early feeding with MOM, DHM, or both does not delay achievement of neonatal feeding milestones in preterm infants.