Available trial data do not provide evidence that advancing enteral feed volumes at daily increments of 15 to 20 mL/kg ( compared with 30 to 40 mL/kg ) reduces the risk of NEC or death in very preterm or VLBW infants , extremely preterm or ELBW infants , SGA or growth-restricted infants , or infants with antenatal AREDFV .
Advancing the volume of enteral feeds at a slow rate results in several days of delay in establishing full enteral feeds and may increase the risk of invasive infection
BACKGROUND Early enteral feeding practice s are potentially modifiable risk factors for necrotising enterocolitis ( NEC ) in very preterm or very low birth weight ( VLBW ) infants .
Observational studies suggest that conservative feeding regimens , including slowly advancing enteral feed volumes , reduce the risk of NEC .
However , slow feed advancement may delay establishment of full enteral feeding and may be associated with metabolic and infectious morbidities secondary to prolonged exposure to parenteral nutrition .
OBJECTIVES To determine effects of slow rates of enteral feed advancement on the incidence of NEC , mortality , and other morbidities in very preterm or VLBW infants .
Breast milk and neonatal necrotising enterocolitis
In a prospect i ve multicentre study on 926 preterm infants formally assigned to their early diet , necrotising enterocolitis developed in 51 ( 5.5 % ) .  Mortality was 26 % in stringently confirmed cases . In exclusively  formula-fed  babies confirmed disease was 6 - 10 times more common than in those fed breast milk alone and 3 times more common than in those who received formula plus breast milk . Pasteurised donor milk seemed to be as protective as raw maternal milk . Among babies born at more than 30 weeks ' gestation confirmed necrotising enterocolitis was rare in those whose diet included breast milk ; it was 20 times more common in those fed formula only . Other risk factors included very low  gestational age , respiratory disease , umbilical artery catheterisation , and polycythaemia . In formula-fed but not breast-milk-fed infants , delayed enteral feeding was associated with a lower frequency of necrotising enterocolitis . With the fall in the use of breast milk in British neonatal units , exclusive formula feeding could account for an estimated 500 extra cases of necrotising enterocolitis each year . About 100 of these infants would die
Available trial data do not provide evidence that advancing enteral feed volumes at daily increments of 15 to 20 mL/kg ( compared with 30 to 40 mL/kg ) reduces the risk of NEC or death in very preterm or VLBW infants , extremely preterm or ELBW infants , SGA or growth-restricted infants , or infants with antenatal AREDFV .
Advancing the volume of enteral feeds at a slow rate results in several days of delay in establishing full enteral feeds and may increase the risk of invasive infection
BACKGROUND Early enteral feeding practice s are potentially modifiable risk factors for necrotising enterocolitis ( NEC ) in very preterm or very low birth weight ( VLBW ) infants .
Observational studies suggest that conservative feeding regimens , including slowly advancing enteral feed volumes , reduce the risk of NEC .
However , slow feed advancement may delay establishment of full enteral feeding and may be associated with metabolic and infectious morbidities secondary to prolonged exposure to parenteral nutrition .
OBJECTIVES To determine effects of slow rates of enteral feed advancement on the incidence of NEC , mortality , and other morbidities in very preterm or VLBW infants .