Improved growth of preterm infants receiving mother's own raw milk compared with pasteurized donor milk.

Aim: To determine whether growth, feeding tolerance and infectious events of preterm infants is related to the proportion of intake of mother's own raw milk (maternal milk) versus pooled pasteurized banked breast milk (donor milk).

Methods: This is a prospective observational study of 55 premature infants born less than 32 weeks of gestational age admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at the Children's Hospital of Toulouse during two 6-month periods from 2003 to 2005. Enrolled infants were exclusively on enteral feeds with maternal milk ± donor milk.