Human Milk and Preterm Infant Brain Development
Miami Neonatology 2024—48th Annual International Conference

This education is about:

• Preterm infant nutrition and neurodevelopment
• The vulnerability of preterm infants to neurodevelopmental impairments
• Effects of maternal milk intake on long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes
• Effects of maternal milk intake on brain volume and structure
• Nutrients and bioactives with roles in neurodevelopment

Why it matters:
For preterm infants, time spent in the NICU coincides with a critical period in neurodevelopment. NICU clinicians should be fluent in the potential benefits of maternal milk and its components for optimizing short- and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants.

What you will learn:
In this presentation, Mandy Brown Belfort, MD, MPH, discusses the role of human milk in the neurodevelopment of preterm infants. Beginning with long-term longitudinal data collected in toddler and school-aged children who were born preterm, Dr. Belfort highlights the benefits of providing fortified maternal milk during NICU hospitalization. Dr. Belfort then moves on to discuss the preclinical evidence showing that maternal milk intake is associated with larger brain volume and more mature brain microstructure even before NICU discharge. This engaging talk can help NICU clinicians contextualize current recommendations regarding the importance of maternal milk feeding in the NICU setting.

• Profile

  Mandy Brown Belfort, MD, MPH

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  Mandy Brown Belfort, MD MPH is a practicing neonatologist and Associate Chief of Research in the Department of Pediatrics at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She leads an NIH-funded program of research focused on the influence of early-life diet on health and neurodevelopmental outcomes later in life. She has led collaborative epidemiological research indicating long-lasting neurodevelopmental benefits of maternal milk-based diets in large cohorts of very preterm-born children. Current observational and interventional studies emphasize the NICU hospitalization as a critical window of opportunity to implement and test new nutritional strategies. Dr. Belfort’s work has been published widely in peer-reviewed journals and informs public health recommendations and policies related to breastfeeding and clinical nutritional approaches within neonatal intensive care.

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  Mandy Brown Belfort, MD, MPH

  Associate Chief of Research
  Department of Pediatrics
  Brigham & Women’s Hospital
  Associate Professor of Pediatrics
  Harvard Medical School
  Cambridge, Massachusetts