SynthesisThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews2019
Formula versus maternal breast milk for feeding preterm or low birth weight infants.
Synthesis in The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Nutritional Management of Low Birth Weight and Preterm Infants in Low- and Low Middle-Income Countries.Neonatology · 2025Pooled it
- Donor human milk for preventing necrotising enterocolitis in very preterm or very low-birthweight infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of breastfeeding and neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infant.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Human Milk Feeding and Short-Term Growth in Preterm and Very Low Birth Weight Infants.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Outcome of abdominal massage before gavage feeding on tolerated feeding for low birth weight infants.Nursing open · 2022Trial
- An investigation into the status of human milk feeding in very low birth weight infants: a multicenter study.International breastfeeding journal · 2026Observational
- Improving the composition of donor milk using machine learning and optimisation techniques.PloS one · 2026Article
- Exosomes in Breast Milk: Their Impact on the Intestinal Microbiota of the Newborn and Therapeutic Perspectives for High-Risk Neonates.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Article
- Effects of early parenteral nutrition on the development of premature infants born at 22-23 weeks of gestation: a retrospective cohort study evaluated by brain magnetic resonance imaging.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Challenges and Choices in Breastfeeding Healthy, Sick and Preterm Babies: Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Docosahexaenoic Acid and Sleep Quality in Very and Extreme Preterm Infants.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Nutritional Strategies for Preterm Neonates and Preterm Neonates Undergoing Surgery: New Insights for Practice and Wrong Beliefs to Uproot.Nutrients · 2024Review
- Monitoring the Use of Human Milk, the Ideal Food for Very Low-Birth-Weight Infants-A Narrative Review.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Effects of two-stage preterm formulas on growth, nutritional biomarkers, and neurodevelopment in preterm infants.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2024Article
- The Association of Human Milk Proportion with the Clinical Outcomes of Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Preterm Infants: A Retrospective Study.Nutrients · 2023Article
- 20-αHydroxycholesterol, an oxysterol in human breast milk, reverses mouse neonatal white matter injury through Gli-dependent oligodendrogenesis.Cell stem cell · 2023Article
- Mixed Feedings and Necrotizing Enterocolitis: The Proportion of Human Milk Matters.Breastfeeding medicine : the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine · 2023Article
- Growth after implementing a donor breast milk program in neonates <33 weeks gestational age or birthweight <1500 grams: Retrospective cohort study.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2023Article
- Exclusive Human Milk Diet for Extremely Premature Infants: A Novel Fortification Strategy That Enhances the Bioactive Properties of Fresh, Frozen, and Pasteurized Milk Specimens.Breastfeeding medicine : the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine · 2023Observational
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundArtificial formula can be manipulated to contain higher amounts of macro-nutrients than maternal breast milk but breast milk confers important immuno-nutritional advantages for preterm or low birth weight (LBW) infants.
objectivesTo determine the effect of feeding preterm or LBW infants with formula compared with maternal breast milk on growth and developmental outcomes. SEARCH
methodsWe used the standard strategy of Cochrane Neonatal to search the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL 2018, Issue 9), and Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Ovid Maternity & Infant Care Database, and CINAHL to October 2018. We searched clinical trials databases, conference proceedings, and the reference lists of retrieved articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials that compared feeding preterm or low birth weight infants with formula versus maternal breast milk. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors planned independently to assess trial eligibility and risk of bias, and extract data. We planned to analyse treatment effects as described in the individual trials and report risk ratios and risk differences for dichotomous data, and mean differences for continuous data, with 95% confidence intervals. We planned to use a fixed-effect model in meta-analyses and to explore potential causes of heterogeneity in subgroup analyses. We planned to use the GRADE approach to assess the certainty of evidence. MAIN
resultsWe did not identify any eligible trials. AUTHORS'
conclusionsThere are no trials of formula versus maternal breast milk for feeding preterm or low birth weight infants. Such trials are unlikely to be conducted because of the difficulty of allocating an alternative form of nutrition to an infant whose mother wishes to feed with her own breast milk. Maternal breast milk remains the default choice of enteral nutrition because observational studies, and meta-analyses of trials comparing feeding with formula versus donor breast milk, suggest that feeding with breast milk has major immuno-nutritional advantages for preterm or low birth weight infants.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.