In plain words
Very low birth weight means a baby weighs less than 1,500 grams, about 3 pounds 5 ounces, at birth. Most of these babies are born early and stay in a neonatal intensive care unit. Their mothers often cannot breastfeed right away, so they express milk with a pump or by hand. Lactation teams usually encourage early, frequent expression. is sometimes used when a mother's own milk is not yet available. Your NICU team can tell you how much milk your baby needs and how the feeding plan is changing.
The deeper version
The WHO definition of very low birth weight is a birth weight under 1,500 grams, a cut-off that defines a group with high rates of neonatal morbidity and mortality. In mothers of these infants, is often delayed, and starting expression early after birth is associated with higher milk volume in small cohort studies (Parker and colleagues, 2012). The AAP policy on donor human milk for the high-risk infant (2017) describes its use when maternal milk is unavailable and recommends prioritizing the infant's own mother's milk. Individual variation in volume is large, and expression support by lactation staff is a major factor.
Where it comes up
- Donor milkFeeding Your Baby
- Hand expression and collecting colostrum before birthFeeding Your Baby
- When your baby is in the NICUBirth and the First Days
- Pumping: how, when, how oftenFeeding Your Baby
What mothers here say about very low birth weight
No one has posted under this term yet.
Sources
- American Academy of Pediatrics — Donor Human Milk for the High-Risk Infant: Preparation, Safety, and Usage Options in the United States, 2017
- Parker LA et al. — Effect of early breast milk expression on milk volume and timing of lactogenesis stage II among mothers of very low birth weight infants: a pilot study. Journal of Perinatology 2012
- World Health Organization and UNICEF — Low Birthweight: Country, Regional and Global Estimates, 2004