The cost-effectiveness of using banked donor milk in the neonatal intensive care unit: prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) adds significantly to the cost of care for premature infants and to negative long-term and short-term outcomes for these infants. It is thus in the best interest of the health care system to prevent the occurrence of NEC through feeding protocols that foster NEC prevention (i.e., use of breast milk in the neonatal intensive care unit). Banked donor milk has been shown to be as effective in preventing NEC as mother's milk. Three models of cost analysis are presented to show savings that could accrue to a health care system or individual family if banked donor milk were provided as first feedings when mother's milk is not available. The cost of using banked donor milk to feed premature infants is inconsequential when compared to the savings from NEC prevention.