Feeding of very-low-birth-weight infants with breast-milk enriched by energy, nitrogen and minerals: FM85.

Although human milk is the best tolerated nutrition for very-low-birth-weight infants, it does not cover the special requirements of premature babies. The protein content does not allow a growth rate comparable to the intrauterine weight gain, and the calcium and phosphorus supply is by far too small for a full mineralization of the growing skeleton. If a sufficient caloric supply should be achieved, the low energy/water ratio leads to a high volume load for stomach and circulation. We therefore searched for a solution with an enriched human milk. As main energy carrier, polydextrose (dextrinmaltose) is added; the protein content is raised to 2.5 g/100 kcal by the addition of amino acids and small peptides and the mineral content is supplemented by calcium salts and phosphates. These ingredients are premixed; addition of 5 g% of this mixture results in a human milk with 85 kcal/100 ml and an optimal concentration of calcium, phosphate, sodium, potassium, chloride and magnesium. This feeding procedure is simple, safe, and without any practical difficulties.