Benefits of a Standardized Enteral Feeding Protocol on the Nutrition and Health Outcomes of Very Low Birth Weight Preterm Infants.

To compare nutrition and health outcomes before and after implementing a standardized enteral feeding protocol on nutrition and health outcomes in very low birth weight preterm infants. A retrospective chart review was performed evaluating preterm infants, born less than 34 weeks gestation and weighing less than 1500 g, before and after the implementation of a standardized enteral feeding protocol. Outcomes included weaning of parenteral nutrition, initiation and advancement of enteral feeds, initiation of human-milk fortifier (HMF), change in weight -score and neonatal morbidities.