Feeding intolerance and growth failure commonly complicate recovery in infants with complicated intestinal atresia, often requiring prolonged human milk fortification after hospital discharge. This case report details the novel use of freeze-dried mother’s own milk (FDMOM) to fortify expressed mother’s own milk (MOM) to resolve feeding intolerance and weight faltering in a late preterm infant with complicated atresia and congenital shortened bowel. Freeze-drying of MOM took place at a commercial facility using SafeDryTM, a patented contact-free process. Use of FDMOM to increase caloric content of expressed MOM was done under medical supervision using a targeted fortification approach. The patient tolerated unfortified MOM but developed severe fussiness, abdominal distention, and increased stooling upon fortification with hypoallergenic formulas. However, these symptoms resolved within 24 hours of switching to fortification with FDMOM. Remarkably, the infant went from the 24th percentile for weight-for-age to the 66th percentile within 86 days.
Ward et al. (Wed,) studied this question.