`BANKED' BREAST MILK BETTER FOR NEWBORNS.Byline: Daily News LANCASTER - While medical science has shown that breast milk is best for newborns, mothers of very premature infants aren't always able to produce enough milk to feed their babies at birth. But at Antelope Valley Hospital, the neonatal intensive care unit Noun 1. neonatal intensive care unit - an intensive care unit designed with special equipment to care for premature or seriously ill newborn NICU ICU, intensive care unit - a hospital unit staffed and equipped to provide intensive care has been feeding some of its tiniest patients donated breast milk and monitoring the results. Andrea Randenberg, a registered nurse with the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, presented the data she's collected at the annual conference last week of the Perinatal Advisory Council for Leadership, Advocacy and Consultation. ``Our data shows that the use of donor milk has unequivocally improved outcomes for our NICU NICU abbr. neonatal intensive-care unit patients,'' says Randenberg. ``The premature newborns we studied who were fed with donor milk in lieu of formula spent less time on IVs, gained weight quicker, spent fewer days in the hospital and had a lower rate of NEC (NEC Corporation, Tokyo, www.nec.com, www.necus.com) An electronics conglomerate known in the U.S. for its monitors. In Japan, it had the lion's share of the PC market until the late 1990s (see PC 98). NEC was founded in Tokyo in 1899 as Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. infection -- a bowel infection bowel infection 1 Gastroenteritis, see there 2 Colitis, see there which can be a life-threatening.'' Randenberg's presentation will discuss data collected over two years. From April 2004 through March 2005, 131 premature infants received formula until their mothers could provide breast milk. Then from April 2005 through March 2006, 144 infants received donor milk from the day they were born, followed by their own mothers' breast milk. The babies studied weighed as little as 1 pound, 1 ounce and as much as 4 pounds, 4 ounces. As Randenberg explains, the hospital obtains donated breast milk from a milk ``bank'' in San Jose -- one of only seven in the U.S. While it is a nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. , it passes on costs for milk pasteurization pasteurization (păs'ch  rĭzā`shən, -rīzā`shən), partial sterilization of liquids such as milk, orange juice, wine, and beer, as well as cheese, to destroy , sterilization sterilizationAny surgical procedure intended to end fertility permanently (see contraception). Such operations remove or interrupt the anatomical pathways through which the cells involved in fertilization travel (see reproductive system). , storage and transport. Users pay about $3 an ounce, which can translate to thousands of dollars when multiple infants are fed until their own mothers can produce enough milk. Triz Tajalli, executive director of women and children's services at Antelope Valley Hospital, said the hospital absorbs the costs, but is confident that the improved outcomes make up for it. ``The babies who benefit from donor milk are healthier and spend less time in the NICU, and that saves money for our hospital, our patients and the healthcare system,'' Tajalli said. ``And if this preserves one life that might be lost to infection, it's worth it.'' |
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