Parent and Provider Perspectives on the Imprecise Label of “Human Milk Fortifier” in the NICU
1
NEC Society, PO Box 72271, Davis, CA 95617, USA
2
Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
3
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
4
Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nutrients 2020, 12(3), 720; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12030720
Received: 3 February 2020 / Revised: 3 March 2020 / Accepted: 4 March 2020 / Published: 9 March 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neonatal Nutrition for Inflammatory Disorders and Necrotizing Enterocolitis)
In the critical care of preterm infants, feeding is complex and potentially harmful to an immature gastrointestinal system. Parents have expressed the desire to be fully informed about what is being fed to their child, as this places them in the best position to nurture their child’s health. In the parent-engaged setting of the Necrotizing Enterocolitis Symposium, NICU parents expressed concern and confusion about how cow’s milk product and donor human milk product both carry the label “Human Milk Fortifier” (HMF). Accordingly, two online surveys were developed to characterize how the label HMF is used and interpreted in the NICU by parents and providers. Of 774 United States participants, only 21.9% of providers reported consistently describing the source of HMF to parents, and only 20.6% of parents whose child received an HMF product report knowing the source. Parents expressed that they were “not given information” regarding HMF, while both parents and healthcare providers expressed that “the label (HMF) is misleading”. This study documents the ambiguity around the label HMF as well as the need for more specific language and clearer communication.
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Keywords:
necrotizing enterocolitis; human milk fortifier; patient empowerment; breast milk; neonatal nutrition; prematurity; communication; product labeling; donor milk; NICU parent
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
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MDPI and ACS Style
Canvasser, J.; Hair, A.B.; Kim, J.H.; Taylor, S.N. Parent and Provider Perspectives on the Imprecise Label of “Human Milk Fortifier” in the NICU. Nutrients 2020, 12, 720.
AMA Style
Canvasser J, Hair AB, Kim JH, Taylor SN. Parent and Provider Perspectives on the Imprecise Label of “Human Milk Fortifier” in the NICU. Nutrients. 2020; 12(3):720.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCanvasser, Jennifer; Hair, Amy B.; Kim, Jae H.; Taylor, Sarah N. 2020. "Parent and Provider Perspectives on the Imprecise Label of “Human Milk Fortifier” in the NICU" Nutrients 12, no. 3: 720.
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