Hello to everybody,

I wonder if in your NICU you add parenteral nutrition in the first days of life in premies >1,5 kg who are in good conditions and tolerate oral feeding to reach the high protein intake that s usually is considered.

If I feed a premie with human milk in first days of life, I'm very far to obtain the proteic and caloric intake that are recommended, but it's very difficult for me (ethically) to find a central vein in a healthy premie (actually, I'll never reach the protein intake of parenteral nutrition feeding newborns with fortified human milk).

Many thanks for your answers

Marcello De Filippo

II level NICU, Grosseto Italy

We still haven´t been able to provide donor human milk in our Unit, so if we have a  PT < 33 weeks GA or an SGA <p3 infant who is also <34 wks GA, we will consider either starting parenteral nutrition until the mother can produce milk or give aminoacids 10% plus 12.5% dextrose and some form of IV phosphate via peripheral vein.

For us, it has more to do with maturity than birth weight. We also try to use as little formula as possible, favoring own mother's breast milk.