Kalliopi Dritsakou1, Georgios Liosis2, Georgia Valsami3, Evangelos Polychronopoulos4, Kyriakos Souliotis5, Maria Skouroliakou4. 1. Departments of Quality Control, Research and Continuing Education, Elena Venizelou Maternity Hospital, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: kdritsak@hua.gr. 2. Human Milk Bank, Elena Venizelou Maternity Hospital, Athens, Greece. 3. School of Pharmacy, University of Athens, Athens, Greece. 4. Department of Science of Dietetics-Nutrition, Harokopeion University of Athens, Athens, Greece. 5. University of Peloponnese, Greece.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: to compare hospital and health service usage costs of feeding low-birthweight (LBW) infants predominantly with their mother's milk, supplemented with donor milk, with donor milk and preterm formula. DESIGN: prospective matching study. SETTING: tertiary public perinatal centre, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and donor human milk bank. PARTICIPANTS: 100LBW infants (Group I) fed predominantly with their mother's milk from the first hour of life, supplemented (mainly for the first week of life) with donor milk, were matched on a 1:1 basis with 100LBW infants (Group II) who were fed with donor milk for the first 3 weeks of life followed by preterm formula until hospital discharge. Individualised targeted fortification of human milk was implemented in both study groups. FINDINGS: the costs of hospitalisation, doctor visits and prescription drugs for viral infections until 8 months of age were calculated for each infant. Infants fed predominantly with their mother's milk had significantly shorter hospital stays and lower hospitalisation costs. In Group I infants, the duration of enteral gavage feeding was shorter, resulting in significantly lower costs. Up to 8 months of age, Group I infants experienced fewer episodes of viral infections, and the cost of each doctor visit and drug prescription was lower for these infants. CONCLUSIONS: feeding LBW infants predominantly with their mother's milk reduces hospital and health service usage costs. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: feeding LBW infants predominantly with their mother's milk, supplemented with donor milk, followed by exclusive breast feeding seems to result in potential savings in hospital and health service usage costs.
OBJECTIVE: to compare hospital and health service usage costs of feeding low-birthweight (LBW) infants predominantly with their mother's milk, supplemented with donor milk, with donor milk and preterm formula. DESIGN: prospective matching study. SETTING: tertiary public perinatal centre, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and donorhuman milk bank. PARTICIPANTS: 100LBW infants (Group I) fed predominantly with their mother's milk from the first hour of life, supplemented (mainly for the first week of life) with donor milk, were matched on a 1:1 basis with 100LBW infants (Group II) who were fed with donor milk for the first 3 weeks of life followed by preterm formula until hospital discharge. Individualised targeted fortification of human milk was implemented in both study groups. FINDINGS: the costs of hospitalisation, doctor visits and prescription drugs for viral infections until 8 months of age were calculated for each infant. Infants fed predominantly with their mother's milk had significantly shorter hospital stays and lower hospitalisation costs. In Group I infants, the duration of enteral gavage feeding was shorter, resulting in significantly lower costs. Up to 8 months of age, Group I infants experienced fewer episodes of viral infections, and the cost of each doctor visit and drug prescription was lower for these infants. CONCLUSIONS: feeding LBW infants predominantly with their mother's milk reduces hospital and health service usage costs. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: feeding LBW infants predominantly with their mother's milk, supplemented with donor milk, followed by exclusive breast feeding seems to result in potential savings in hospital and health service usage costs.
Authors: Laura R Kair; Nichole L Nidey; Jessie E Marks; Kirsten Hanrahan; Lorraine Femino; Erik Fernandez Y Garcia; Kelli Ryckman; Kelly E Wood Journal: J Hum Lact Date: 2019-11-26 Impact factor: 2.219