It is likely that donor milk provides short-term cost savings by reducing the incidence of NEC .
BACKGROUND Necrotizing enterocolitis ( NEC ) is a costly gastrointestinal disorder that mainly affects preterm and low-birth-weight infants and can lead to considerable morbidity and mortality .
Mother 's own milk is protective against NEC but is not always available .
In such cases , donor human milk has also been shown to be protective ( although to a lesser extent ) compared with formula milk , but it is more expensive .
This systematic review aim ed at evaluating the cost of donor milk , the cost of treating NEC , and the cost-effectiveness of exclusive donor milk versus formula milk feeding to reduce the short-term health and treatment costs of NEC .
Randomized trial of exclusive human milk versus preterm formula diets in extremely premature infants.
OBJECTIVE To compare the duration of parenteral nutrition , growth , and morbidity in extremely premature infants fed exclusive diets of either bovine milk-based preterm formula ( BOV ) or donor human milk and human milk-based human milk fortifier ( HUM )  , in a r and omized trial of formula vs human milk . STUDY DESIGN Multicenter r and omized controlled trial . The authors studied extremely preterm infants whose mothers did not provide their milk . Infants were fed either BOV or an exclusive human milk diet of pasteurized donor human milk and HUM . The major outcome was duration of parenteral nutrition . Secondary outcomes were growth , respiratory support , and necrotizing enterocolitis ( NEC ) . RESULTS Birth weight ( 983 vs 996 g ) and  gestational age ( 27.5 vs 27.7 wk ) , in BOV and HUM , respectively , were similar . There was a significant difference in median parenteral nutrition days : 36 vs 27 , in BOV vs HUM , respectively ( P = .04 ) . The incidence of NEC in BOV was 21 % ( 5 cases ) vs 3 % in HUM ( 1 case ) , P = .08 ; surgical NEC was significantly higher in BOV ( 4 cases ) than HUM ( 0 cases ) , P = .04 . CONCLUSIONS In extremely preterm infants given exclusive diets of preterm formula vs human milk , there was a significantly greater duration of parenteral nutrition and higher rate of surgical NEC in infants receiving preterm formula . This trial supports the use of an exclusive human milk diet to nourish extremely preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit
It is likely that donor milk provides short-term cost savings by reducing the incidence of NEC .
BACKGROUND Necrotizing enterocolitis ( NEC ) is a costly gastrointestinal disorder that mainly affects preterm and low-birth-weight infants and can lead to considerable morbidity and mortality .
Mother 's own milk is protective against NEC but is not always available .
In such cases , donor human milk has also been shown to be protective ( although to a lesser extent ) compared with formula milk , but it is more expensive .
This systematic review aim ed at evaluating the cost of donor milk , the cost of treating NEC , and the cost-effectiveness of exclusive donor milk versus formula milk feeding to reduce the short-term health and treatment costs of NEC .