SynthesisInternational breastfeeding journal2020
The effect of donor human milk on the length of hospital stay in very low birthweight infants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in International breastfeeding journal, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Infant Formula for the Prevention and Treatment of Neonatal Hypoglycaemia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of Access to Pasteurised Donor Human Milk on Rates of Necrotising Enterocolitis in Neonatal Units in Australia: A Cohort Study.Journal of paediatrics and child health · 2026Article
- Short outcomes of donor milk and mother's own milk for preterm infants.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Necrotizing enterocolitis.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026Review
- Improving neonatal outcomes through better access to human milk.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2026Article
- Impact of Enteral Nutrition on Clinical Outcomes in Very Low Birth Weight Infants in the NICU: A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Factors Associated with the Prolonged Use of Donor Human Milk at the Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children in Vietnam.Nutrients · 2024Article
- The Unsung Heroes: The Profile of the Donor at a Southern Italian Milk Bank and Driving Factors in Human Milk Donation.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The impact of donating milk on the health of milk donors and their infants: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol.JPGN reports · 2024Article
- Unlocking the Potential: A Systematic Literature Review on the Impact of Donor Human Milk on Infant Health Outcomes.Cureus · 2024Review
- Human Milk Feeding and Direct Breastfeeding Improve Outcomes for Infants With Single Ventricle Congenital Heart Disease: Propensity Score-Matched Analysis of the NPC-QIC Registry.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2023Article
- Human milk feeding and direct breastfeeding improve outcomes for infants with single ventricle congenital heart disease: Propensity score matched analysis of the NPC-QIC registry.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Survey on human milk feeding and enteral feeding practices for very-low-birth-weight infants in NICUs in China Neonatal Network.BMC pediatrics · 2023Article
- Effects of human donor milk on gut barrier function and inflammation:Frontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- Review highlights the importance of donor human milk being available for very low birth weight infants.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2022Review
- Advocating for donor milk access in Medicaid: bringing equity to the neonatal intensive care unit.Pediatric research · 2022Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDonor human milk (DHM) is an alternative to preterm infant formula if the mother's own milk is not available. Since the lactation period and preservation treatment of DHM are different from those of mother's own milk, we aimed to determine the reduction in the length of hospital stay by DHM compared to preterm infant formula.
methodsIn this systematic review, we searched PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library to retrieve studies on the impact of DHM on the clinical outcomes of preterm infants published before 1 November 2019. The study included very low birthweight (VLBW) infants taking either DHM or infant formula with data on the length of hospital stay. Data were analysed using Review Manager 5.3 software.
resultsThe literature search yielded 136 articles, and four randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and eight observational studies met the inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis of the RCTs (N = 725) showed no reduction in the length of hospital stay in both the DHM and infant formula groups (- 0.22 days; 95% CI -6.38, 5.95 days), whereas that of the eight observational studies (N = 2496) showed a significant reduction in the length of hospital stay in the DHM group (- 11.72 days; 95% CI -22.07, - 1.37 days). A subgroup analysis of the RCTs revealed that the incidence of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) was significantly lower in the DHM group when the analysis included high-quality RCTs (RR = 0.32; 95% CI 0.15, 0.69).
conclusionsThis systematic review of RCTs showed that DHM neither prolonged nor shortened the length of hospital stay in VLBW infants compared to preterm infant formula; however, it reduced the incidence of NEC, further validating the protective role of DHM in the health and safety of VLBW infants.
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