FILE: CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in May 2015. Photo: Junkyardsparkle / Wikimedia Commons, CC0; cropped and resized.
CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles has introduced a human milk-based nutrition protocol for some of the smallest babies in its neonatal intensive care unit.
The hospital announced the change Thursday, saying it will give its most fragile premature infants access to nutrition made entirely from human milk sources. The announcement described the babies as “30 weeks gestation” but did not give a birth-weight threshold, a clearer eligibility cutoff or a precise start date.
The change concerns more than whether a baby receives a mother’s milk or donated milk. Premature infants often need extra protein, calories and other nutrients, which doctors add through a product called a fortifier.
Those fortifiers can be made from donated human milk or from cow’s milk. The hospital said both types are labeled “human milk fortifiers” in the United States because they are added to human milk. That name alone does not tell parents what the added product is made from.
CHA Hollywood said feeding plans in its NICU will remain closely monitored and tailored to each infant. Parents will be involved in nutrition decisions with the care team.
Kim Brown Sims, the hospital’s chief nursing officer and a former NICU nurse, said the new approach reflects its effort to support premature babies’ growth while working with their families.
The announcement describes a change in hospital practice, not the results of a new clinical trial. It does not report how many infants will receive the new feeding protocol or provide outcome data comparing the hospital’s previous and new approaches.
The hospital also said a facility planned to open in 2027 will add six NICU beds and more private rooms for its Mother-Baby Unit. That expansion is separate from the nutrition change announced Thursday and has not opened yet.
CHA Hollywood Presbyterian is a 434-bed acute-care facility, including 89 skilled nursing beds, according to the hospital. It has served Hollywood and nearby communities since 1924.
Source: CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center’s November 12 announcement.
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