HM provided a clear protective effect against NEC , with an approximate 4 % reduction in incidence .
HM also provided a possible reduction in LOS , severe ROP and severe NEC .
Particularly for NEC , any volume of HM is better than EPTF , and the higher the dose the greater the protection .
Evidence regarding pasteurisation is inconclusive , but it appears to have no effect on some outcomes .
Improving the intake of mother ’s own milk ( MOM ) and /or donor HM results in small improvements in morbidity in this population
An exclusively human milk diet reduces necrotizing enterocolitis.
OBJECTIVE This study tested the hypothesis that feeding an exclusively human milk ( EHM ) diet  to premature infants reduces the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis ( NEC ) associated with enteral feeding . STUDY DESIGN An observational study for infants born at less than 33 weeks of gestational age was performed in a single neonatal intensive care unit . An EHM diet prospect ively eliminated bovine-based artificial milk , including bovine-based fortifier , through 33 weeks postmenstrual age ( PMA ) . The clinical data from a 2.5-year interval of the EHM diet were compared with data from the previous 6.5 years for similar infants who received bovine-based milk products  before 33 weeks PMA . RESULTS In the EHM diet cohort , 148 of 162 infants ( 91 % ) received EHM through 33 weeks PMA . In order to achieve an EHM diet , 140 of 162 infants ( 86 % ) received their own mother 's milk , and 98 of 162 infants ( 60 % ) received donor human milk . The EHM cohort was also fed a human milk-based fortifier to truly eliminate bovine products . The distribution of NEC onset in the EHM cohort was significantly different from that in the control cohort for the day of onset ( p=0.042 ) and the PMA at onset ( p=0.011 ) . In the control cohort , NEC onset after Day 7 of life occurred in 15 of 443 infants ( 3.4 % ) , significantly more than in the EHM cohort where NEC occurred in two of 199 infants ( 1 % ) ( p=0.009 ) . CONCLUSIONS Changing to an EHM milk diet through 33 weeks PMA reduced the incidence of NEC associated with enteral feeding
HM provided a clear protective effect against NEC , with an approximate 4 % reduction in incidence .
HM also provided a possible reduction in LOS , severe ROP and severe NEC .
Particularly for NEC , any volume of HM is better than EPTF , and the higher the dose the greater the protection .
Evidence regarding pasteurisation is inconclusive , but it appears to have no effect on some outcomes .
Improving the intake of mother ’s own milk ( MOM ) and /or donor HM results in small improvements in morbidity in this population