NICU human milk dose and health care use after NICU discharge in very low birth weight infants

Objective To determine the association between human milk (HM) dose and health care utilization at one and 2 years of life in very low birth weight (birth weight < 1500 g; VLBW) infants. Study design This study included 345 VLBW infants enrolled in a prospective observational cohort study (2008-2012) who completed a neonatal high-risk follow-up clinic visit. Subsequent health care utilization included hospitalizations, emergency department visits, pediatric subspecialists, and specialized therapies. Results Each 10 mL/kg/day increase in HM in the first 14 days of life was associated with 0.26 fewer hospitalizations (p = 0.04) at 1 year and 0.21 fewer pediatric subspecialist types (p = 0.04) and 0.20 fewer specialized therapy types (p = 0.04) at 2 years. Conclusion HM dose in early life for VLBW infants was an independent predictor of the number of hospitalizations at 1 year and types of pediatric subspecialists and specialized therapies at 2 years of life.