Abstract
Objectives: To assess the effect of maternal breast milk supplementation on the development
of exclusively breast-fed very low birth weight preterm infants at 12 months of corrected age.
Methods: A randomized clinical trial with 53 infants followed-up after discharge from the
neonatal unit until a corrected gestational age of 12 months. Newborns in the intervention
group were breastfed exclusively with maternal milk and received 2 g of a multinutrient supplement
(Pré-Nan®, Nestlé, Vevey, Switzerland) added to expressed breast milk twice a day until
a corrected age of 4---6 months. The control group was exclusively breastfed without supplementation.
After monthly follow-up, developmental assessment was performed using the Bayley III
Scale.
Results: There was no statistically significant difference on the Bayley III Scale between the
intervention and control groups in any of the assessed domains: motor, cognitive, and communication.
However, scores in the three domains were always higher in the group that received
the supplement. There were a similar number of cases of developmental delay in both groups:
seven (28%) in the group that received the supplement and nine (33.3%) in the group that was
exclusively breastfed.