Effects of Total Enteral Nutrition on Early Growth, Immunity, and Neuronal Development of Preterm Infants

The feeding of colostrum and mother’s transitional milk improves immune protection and neurodevelopmental outcomes. It also helps with gut maturation and decreases the risks of infection. The supply of nutrients from human milk (HM) is not adequate for preterm infants, even though preterm mother’s milk contains higher concentrations of protein, sodium, zinc, and calcium than mature HM. The human milk fortifiers, particularly those with protein, calcium, and phosphate, should be used to supplement HM to meet the necessities of preterm infants. The management of fluid and electrolytes is a challenging aspect of neonatal care of preterm infants. Trace minerals such as iron, zinc, copper, iodine, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, chromium, and fluoride are considered essential for preterm infants. Vitamins such as A, D, E, and K play an important role in the prevention of morbidities, such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia, retinopathy of prematurity, and intraventricular hemorrhage. Therefore, supplementation of HM with required nutrients is recommended for all preterm infants.