Tag Archives: breast milk

How should we pasteurize donor breast milk?

Posted on 23 April 2024 by Keith Barrington

The standard method of pasteurization of donor breast milk, and I believe the only method approved by HMBANA (the human milk banking association of north america), is similar to what Louis Pasteur himself came up with a couple of centuries … Continue reading →

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Donor human milk, not toxic after all!

Posted on 31 January 2024 by Keith Barrington

It was fairly recently that I deconstructed a truly terrible database analysis which claimed that neonatal mortality was dramatically increased among very preterm infants who received mother’s own milk (MoM) and donor human milk (DHM), without any formula or fortifier, … Continue reading →

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More thoughts about the “toxicity” of donor milk, a case of Reverse Causation

Posted on 6 November 2023 by Keith Barrington

After my recent post, about the study which suggested that donor milk was killing babies, I have been taking a deeper dive into the article, as I prepare a letter to the editor. Only 2 small subsets of the infants … Continue reading →

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Interesting study, impossible results. Donor breast milk is not toxic.

Posted on 29 October 2023 by Keith Barrington

Is it possible that giving artificial formula to babies will prevent 90% of the deaths of very preterm babies, compared to using donor human milk? (Chehrazi M, et al. Outcomes in very preterm infants receiving an exclusive human milk diet, … Continue reading →

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Artificial Formulae and NEC. It is not necessarily the protein source!

Posted on 18 October 2023 by Keith Barrington

As mentioned several times recently, artificial formula seems to lead to an increase in Necrotising Enterocolitis, compared to donor milk. Of note, the trials in the Cochrane Systematic Review include both those with the entire diet being formula or donor … Continue reading →

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The myth of the “exclusive human milk diet”; fortification options for breast milk.

Posted on 12 October 2023 by Keith Barrington

The Exclusive Human Milk Diet sounds superficially immediately convincing: “We should only give milk products derived from human milk to human babies”. But, is it more than just a catchy phrase? The major company which is responsible for producing a … Continue reading →

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Maternal breast milk is risky too

Posted on 12 May 2022 by Keith Barrington

Human breast milk, when freshly expressed, contains all sorts of goodies, to use the technical scientific term. Many of which are adversely affected by standard pasteurisation (called Holder pasteurisation, which is very similar to what Louis Pasteur himself invented in … Continue reading →

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Breast milk fortifiers, a new systematic review

Posted on 21 September 2020 by Keith Barrington

A systematic review has just been published which compares the outcomes of milk fortification with bovine-milk derived fortifier and human-milk derived fortifier. (Grace E, et al. Safety and efficacy of human milk-based fortifier in enterally fed preterm and/or low birthweight … Continue reading →

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Donor human milk for congenital heart disease?

Posted on 26 November 2019 by Keith Barrington

Newborns with serious Congenital Heart Disease are at risk of intestinal injury which may present in a similar fashion to Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC). Our local guidelines for eligibility for donor milk from our provincial milk bank include infants with significant … Continue reading →

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How fast to feed?

Posted on 14 October 2019 by Keith Barrington

One of the recurring themes in this blog is that good, large enough, prospective RCTs do not necessarily reproduce the results of prior smaller trials, and often do not reproduce the findings of observational studies. Specifically, I have mentioned previously … Continue reading →

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