A son was to be born in July of 2011, and his parents were thrilled. Excitement, nervousness, and pride were frequent emotions, but then expectations were destroyed. Baby Mauricio was born 12 weeks early. At just a bit more than two and a half pounds, he would spend the next nine months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) fighting for his life. His mom, supported by NICU lactation consultants, successfully developed a small amount of breast milk – enough to initially feed her precious son until he became too ill to take her milk.
Short Gut Syndrome and feeding intolerances were outcomes of this little boy’s NEC, but his parents didn’t let those things destroy their faith or hopes that he would one day be home and healthy. His neonatologist credited the availability of donor milk with shortening the length of stay and providing Mauricio with optimum intestinal recovery.
Receiving donor milk while home furthered his recovery and growth, and Mauricio was finally able to transition off of milk onto other feeding substances at fourteen months of age.
A son was to be born in July of 2011, and his parents were thrilled. Excitement, nervousness, and pride were frequent emotions, but then expectations were destroyed. Baby Mauricio was born 12 weeks early. At just a bit more than two and a half pounds, he would spend the next nine months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) fighting for his life. His mom, supported by NICU lactation consultants, successfully developed a small amount of breast milk – enough to initially feed her precious son until he became too ill to take her milk.
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a medical condition primarily seen in premature infants where portions of the intestines undergo tissue death. The risk of NEC is significantly reduced when human milk feedings are provided to an infant, especially a preterm infant. Sometimes, however, a preterm infant who is receiving breast milk still develops NEC. When NEC occurs, the portion of damaged intestines must be removed. Subsequent feeding difficulties related to the shortened intestinal system mean that infants who survive NEC fight both long-term and short-term complications.
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| What else weighs 2.5 pounds? Eight sticks of butter. |
Mauricio required five abdominal surgeries during his stay in the NICU. He was fortunate to have his own mom’s breast milk for his initial weeks in the NICU, but stress works negatively on milk supply, and eventually, the stress of his medical complications affected his mom’s supply. Donor human milk was available to supplement his feedings, and eventually be the only milk that he received. The effects of NEC couldn’t be undone, but healing was promoted through continued feedings of human milk.
Short Gut Syndrome and feeding intolerances were outcomes of this little boy’s NEC, but his parents didn’t let those things destroy their faith or hopes that he would one day be home and healthy. His neonatologist credited the availability of donor milk with shortening the length of stay and providing Mauricio with optimum intestinal recovery.
Receiving donor milk while home furthered his recovery and growth, and Mauricio was finally able to transition off of milk onto other feeding substances at fourteen months of age.
Mauricio’s parents are thankful to the milk donors who made it possible to keep Mauricio on human milk feedings until 14 months; and they are grateful to the financial donors whose generous gifts provided more than $10,000 worth of milk to their precious baby.
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