Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate early feeding factors associated with exclusive human milk (EHM) feeding at discharge in a cohort of human milk-fed infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort of consecutively discharged infants from two NICUs over a 12-month period who received any human milk during the 24 h before hospital discharge. We used logistic regression to evaluate early feeding factors associated with EHM feeding at discharge. RESULT: We evaluated a total of 264 infants. EHM-fed infants were twice as likely to receive human milk at the first feeding compared with partial human milk-fed infants (65% vs 32%; P<0.01). In multivariable analysis, including adjustment for race and type of maternal insurance, infants receiving human milk as the initial feeding, compared with formula, had a greater odds of EHM feeding at hospital discharge (adjusted odds ratio (OR)=3.41; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.82 to 6.39; P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Among infants admitted to the NICU whose mothers provide human milk, those receiving human milk as the first feeding were more likely to receive EHM feeding at discharge.