Highlights of the science of human milk
1.
Human milk is not simply a mixture of macro and micronutrients. It contains over 1000 bioactive components. Many of these are unique to human milk and act as enzymes and transport molecules promoting digestion, have a role in immune response, or act as growth factors.
2.
The benefits of human milk feeding of VLBW infants has been extensively demonstrated. The linked article provides and excellent summary of decades of work on this front.
3.
The latest version of ESPGHAN guidance on the nutrition of preterm infants given detailed clinical guidance on the enteral feeding of preterm neonates.
4.
The macronutrient and calorie content of human milks shows considerable variability. The linked systematic review and meta-analysis provides and in-depth look at this topic. As a result, the use of individualized targeted fortification has been proposed. However, this practice is too labour intensive for practical use in most settings
