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Narrative review of human milk fortifiers for preterm infants

Lu Wang1, Dingding Yin2, Qin Tang2

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.

Frontiers in Pediatrics
|July 14, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Human milk fortifiers are essential for extremely preterm infants to prevent growth restriction. This review covers current and novel fortifier options for optimal infant nutrition.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal Medicine
  • Pediatric Nutrition
  • Perinatal Care

Background:

  • Improved survival rates for extremely preterm infants due to advancements in perinatal medicine and neonatal intensive care.
  • Persistent high incidence of extrauterine growth restriction in these vulnerable infants.
  • Human milk alone often insufficient to meet the high nutritional demands of very preterm infants.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the current utilization of various human milk fortifiers in preterm infant feeding.
  • To introduce novel and investigational fortifier options.
  • To provide a comprehensive overview of nutritional supplementation strategies for preterm infants.

Main Methods:

  • Descriptive review of existing literature and clinical practices.
  • Analysis of different types of human milk fortifiers.
  • Exploration of emerging and experimental fortifier technologies.

Main Results:

  • Human milk fortifiers are a recognized practice to supplement preterm infant nutrition.
  • Diverse fortifier types are currently used depending on clinical situations.
  • Novel fortifiers show potential for enhanced nutritional support.

Conclusions:

  • Supplementation of human milk with fortifiers is crucial for preterm infants.
  • Understanding current and novel fortifiers is key to optimizing growth and development.
  • Further research into investigational fortifiers may offer improved outcomes for extremely preterm infants.

Keywords:
extrauterine growth restrictionhuman milk fortifiermulti-component fortifierspreterm infantssingle-component fortifier

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