NICU Awareness Month Milestone: 125,000 Preemies Helped by Prolacta Bioscience's 100% Breast Milk-Based Nutrition

Prolacta's Fortifiers and Formulas — Made From 100% Donor Breast Milk Instead of Cow Milk — Are Shown to Reduce Complications Like NEC, Helping the Tiniest Premature Babies Thrive

DUARTE, Calif., Sept. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Prolacta Bioscience^®, the world's leading hospital provider of 100% human milk-based nutritional products for critically ill and premature infants, celebrates NICU Awareness Month by announcing that its breast milk-based fortifiers and formulas have now helped more than 125,000 preterm and critically ill infants worldwide.¹

This milestone signifies progress in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the crucial role 100% breast milk-based nutrition plays in reducing complications of prematurity, including the life-threatening intestinal disease necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).^2-4 Since introducing Prolact+ H²MF^®, the world's first and only 100% human milk-based fortifier in 2006, Prolacta has contributed to changing the standard of care for vulnerable premature infants. The company's nutritional products are made from 100% donor breast milk and are free from cow milk and other added fats and sugars, such as corn syrup solids.

NICU Awareness Month is celebrated every September to raise awareness for the critical care NICUs provide to premature and medically fragile newborns. Each year in the U.S., about 36,000 babies are born weighing < 2.75 lbs.⁵ These fragile infants face the highest risk of serious complications, but advances in neonatal nutrition are helping them not just survive, but thrive.

"Reaching more than 125,000 fragile babies is more than a statistic; it represents thousands of families who have seen the difference breast milk-based nutrition can make during the most critical time in their babies' lives," said Scott Elster, CEO of Prolacta. "This milestone reflects the dedication of NICU care teams who understand the pivotal role breast milk-based nutrition plays in the survival and long-term health of the smallest premature infants."

Compared to cow milk-based products, an Exclusive Human Milk Diet (EHMD) with Prolacta's 100% breast milk-based nutritional fortifiers can increase survival⁶ and is clinically proven to reduce the most common complications of prematurity for the smallest premature infants.^2-4,7,8

Breast milk-based nutrition has also been shown to impact developmental milestones years later.^9,10 Most recently, an independent study evaluated the association between an EHMD and motor function impairment at 3 years of corrected age. Read more about the published findings here.¹¹

For more information about breast milk-based nutrition, visit parents.prolacta.com.

About Prolacta Bioscience
Prolacta Bioscience^® is a global life sciences company dedicated to Advancing the Science of Human Milk^® to improve health outcomes for critically ill and premature infants. More than 125,000 extremely premature infants worldwide¹ have benefited from Prolacta's human milk-based products, which have been evaluated in more than 30 peer-reviewed clinical studies. In a significant advancement, Prolacta has developed Surgifort^®, the first and only FDA-approved human milk-based fortifier designed for term infants recovering from corrective surgery for gastroschisis. Operating the world's first pharmaceutical-grade human milk processing facilities, Prolacta maintains the industry's strictest quality and safety standards, with over 20 validated tests for screening and testing human milk. Prolacta's manufacturing process uses vat pasteurization to ensure pathogen inactivation while protecting nutritional composition and bioactivity. Learn more online, or on X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Media Contact:
Loren Kosmont
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310-721-9444

References

1. Data on file; estimated number of premature infants fed Prolacta's products from January 2007 to May 2025.
2. Assad M, Elliott MJ, Abraham JH. Decreased cost and improved feeding tolerance in VLBW infants fed an exclusive human milk diet. J Perinatol. 2016;36(3):216-220. doi:10.1038/jp.2015.168
3. Hair AB, Peluso AM, Hawthorne KM, et al. Beyond necrotizing enterocolitis prevention: improving outcomes with an exclusive human milk-based diet [published correction appears in Breastfeed Med. 2017 Dec;12 (10):663]. Breastfeed Med. 2016;11(2):70-74. doi:10.1089/bfm.2015.0134
4. Sullivan S, Schanler RJ, Kim JH, et al. An exclusively human milk-based diet is associated with a lower rate of necrotizing enterocolitis than a diet of human milk and bovine milk-based products. J Pediatr. 2010;156(4):562-567.e1. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2009.10.040
5. Osterman MJK, Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Driscoll AK, Valenzuela CP. Births: Final Data for 2022. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 73, no 2. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2024. doi:10.15620/cdc:145588
6. Abrams SA, Schanler RJ, Lee ML, Rechtman DJ. Greater mortality and morbidity in extremely preterm infants fed a diet containing cow milk protein products. Breastfeed Med. 2014;9(6):281-285. doi:10.1089/bfm.2014.0024
7. Huston R, Lee M, Rider E, et al. Early fortification of enteral feedings for infants <1250 grams birth weight receiving a human milk diet including human milk-based fortifier. J Neonatal Perinatal Med. 2020;13(2):215-221. doi:10.3233/NPM-190300
8. Delaney Manthe E, Perks PH, Swanson JR. Team-based implementation of an exclusive human milk diet. Adv Neonatal Care. 2019;19(6):460-467. doi:10.1097/ANC.0000000000000676
9. Hair AB, Patel AL, Kiechl-Kohlendorfer U, et al. Neurodevelopmental outcomes of extremely preterm infants fed an exclusive human milk-based diet versus a mixed human milk + bovine milk-based diet: a multi-center study. J Perinatol. 2022;42(11):1485-1488. doi: 10.1038/s41372-022-01513-3
10. Bergner EM, Shypailo R, Visuthranukul C, et al. Growth, body composition, and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2 years among preterm infants fed an exclusive human milk diet in the neonatal intensive care unit: a pilot study. Breastfeed Med. 2020;15(5):304-311. doi:10.1089/bfm.2019.0210
11. Chou FS, Zhang J, Villosis MFB, et al. Exclusive human milk diet is associated with lower risk of motor function impairment at three years of corrected age. J Perinatol. 2025. doi:10.1038/s41372-025-02296-z

SOURCE Prolacta Bioscience