Challenges in the Management of Intestinal Failure in Preterm Infants
Miami Neonatology 2025—49th Annual International Conference

This education is about:

• Clinical spectrum of intestinal failure in preterm infants
• Intestinal rehabilitation teams
• Enteral and parenteral nutrition in infants with intestinal failure
• Role of human milk and formulas in postsurgical feeding
• Nutrition in infants with ostomies
• Transitioning to enteral nutrition in infants with intestinal failure

Why it matters:
Preterm infants with intestinal failure are at high risk for growth failure, liver disease, infection, and prolonged hospitalization. This activity provides practical, experience-based guidance for feeding and nutritional management, highlighting strategies that support intestinal adaptation, minimize complications, and improve survival and long-term outcomes in this vulnerable population.

What you will learn:
This activity reviews contemporary challenges in caring for preterm infants with intestinal failure. Drawing on multidisciplinary clinical experience and available evidence, Dr. Hair examines how early enteral feeding, human milk–based strategies, fortification, and selective use of elemental formulas support intestinal adaptation and growth. The session emphasizes individualized decision-making based on gestational age, surgical anatomy, and feeding tolerance. Additionally, it covers the role of structured intestinal rehabilitation programs in reducing complications, supporting enteral autonomy, and improving long-term outcomes for infants with complex gastrointestinal disease.

Faculty

• Profile

  Amy Hair, MD

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  Dr. Amy Hair is currently an Associate Professor and Neonatologist in the Section of Neonatology and Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital. She is the Program Director of the Neonatal Nutrition Program, Medical Director of the Texas Children's Hospital Milk Banks, and Associate Director of the NICU Intestinal Rehabilitation Program. She is the Director of the Dr. Diane Anderson Neonatal Nutrition Conference held yearly in March that is well known for providing updates in neonatal nutrition.

  Dr. Hair received her undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Georgia and her MD from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. Her postgraduate training included a pediatrics residency at the University of Virginia, followed by postdoctoral fellowships in neonatal-perinatal medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine and in nutrition at the USDA/Agricultural Research Service Children’s Nutrition Research Center in Houston.

  Dr. Hair’s research focuses on neonatal nutrition, specifically growth and the use of human milk in very low birth weight infants. Dr. Hair is the principal investigator for multiple ongoing research studies including a R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study fatty acid absorption and the liver-gut-microbiome axis in preterm infants. Dr. Hair is recognized internationally as an expert in human milk and neonatal nutrition.

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  Amy Hair, MD

  Associate Professor of Pediatrics
  Program Director of Neonatal Nutrition
  Medical Director of TCH Milk Banks
  Associate Director of NICU Intestinal Rehabilitation Team
  Division of Neonatology
  Department of Pediatrics
  Baylor College of Medicine
  Texas Children’s Hospital
  Houston, Texas