Is early breast milk fortification more effective in preterm infants?: a clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: Breast feeding alone does not provide adequate nutrition for growth in preterm infants; therefore, fortifiers are added when over 70-80 cc/kg/day of breast milk is tolerated. As there are few studies comparing early and late breast milk fortification, the following study was conducted. STUDY DESIGN: This double-blind clinical trial was performed on 80 preterm infants (gestational age of 28-34 weeks, birth weight <2 kg). The newborns were randomly divided into two groups to receive either early or late fortification. The primary and secondary outcomes were the difference in growth indices and complications (including feeding intolerance, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and septicemia) between the two groups, respectively. RESULTS: Both groups showed increases in growth indices; however, there was no statistically significant difference in increments of growth indices and complications between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that early fortification from the first feeding in neonates with exclusive breast feeding did not improve growth in the first 4 weeks in preterm neonates in comparison with late fortification; so early fortification may not be cost effective.

Positive effects of low intensity recorded maternal voice on physiologic reactions in premature infants.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of low intensity recorded maternal voice on the physiologic reactions of healthy premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). METHODS: Physiologic responses of 20 healthy preterm infants in the NICU of Shariati Hospital, Tehran, were obtained during a 15min intervention including three 5min periods (no-sound control, audio recorded playback of mother's voice, no-sound post-voice). The intervention was presented three times a day for three consecutive days. During each intervention, oxygen saturation (%, OSPR), heart rate (HR), and respiratory rate (RR) were recorded at 1min intervals over the 15min and then averaged over each 5min period, resulting in 3 averages for each variable for each intervention. RESULTS: Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance were employed to examine each variable separately. Over the three days, comparison of oxygen saturation over each of the three periods (before, during voice, after) revealed an increase in oxygen saturation during the voice period, compared to the pre-voice period, which persisted over the post-voice period; there were no differences between the voice and post-voice periods. Analyses of the HR and RR data showed a decrease in both variables during the voice period compared to the pre-voice period which persisted over the post-voice period. Again, there were no differences between the voice and post-voice periods. CONCLUSION: Exposure to low intensity recorded maternal voice has positive effects on the preterm infants 'physiologic responses.

Transcutaneous bilirubin measurement in preterm neonates.

Hyperbilirubinemia is a common problem during neonatal period especially in preterm neonates. Transcutaneous bilirubin measurement (TcB) by special devices had been documented as an effective tool for predicting neonatal jaundice in full term neonate, but for preterm infants the present evidences are controversial. We carried out a prospective study in Shariati Hospital NICU. 126 paired TcB/total serum bilirubin (TSB) measurements were obtained. TcB (on forehead and sternum) were measured using JH2-1A device for every admitted preterm infant who clinically showed jaundice and TSB measurements was obtained within 30 min of TcB. 58 (46%) were male and 68 (54%) were female. The mean gestational age was 31 week and mean birth weight was 1728 ± 60 g. 30 percent of neonates were ill. The mean value obtained by TBS was 8.8 mg/dl and for frontal TcB was 8.2mg/dl and for sternal TcB was 7.4mg/dl. There were good correlation between TBS and TcB and the maximum correlation were seen in 33-37 weeks of gestation and birth weight more than 2500 g with forehead TcB measurement. Healthy preterm infants had significant correlation of TSB and TcB (r=0.56, P<0.001) and ill preterm neonate had r =0.82, P<0.001. The correlation between TBS and TcB with and without phototherapy was r=0.66, P=0.000 and r=0.69, P=0.000 respectively. Although TcB measurement may underestimate TBS but there is significant correlation between TcB and TBS in preterm cases even in ill neonate or who receiving phototherapy. This method can be used for determination of bilirbin level in preterm neonate and reduces the number of blood sampling.