Effects of the use of fortified raw maternal milk on very low birth weight infants.

OBJECTIVE To compare the weight and height gain and the frequency of clinical complications in preterm newborns weighing less than 1,500 g, exclusively fed human milk or fortified human milk until reaching 1,800 g. METHODS Prospective double-blind randomized controlled trial involving 40 preterm infants weighing < 1,500 g at birth and <or= 34 weeks of gestational age, admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit from August 2005 to April 2007. Preterm infants were randomized into two groups: control (human milk) and intervention (fortified human milk). Fortifiers were added to manually expressed human milk when feeding volume reached 100 mL/kg/day until newborns reached 1,800 g. Daily weight gain, weekly length and head circumference gain, nutritional variables and clinical complications were compared. RESULTS Human milk fortification resulted in better growth, with length gain of 1.09 and 0.87 cm/week (p = 0.003) and head circumference gain of 0.73 and 1.02 cm/week (p = 0.0001), respectively, for intervention and control groups. The weight gain was 24.4 and 21.1 g/day (p = 0.075). There were no significant clinical complications. CONCLUSIONS Human milk fortification resulted in better growth, significant increase in length and head circumference.