Breast milk improves the heart health of premature babies, Irish-led study finds

The study, led by Prof Afif EL-Khuffash in Dublin, found that the heart health of premature babies improved when fed a high proportion of their own mother's milk. Picture: iStock/PA

Breast milk has been found to improve the heart health and heart performance of premature babies.

New research shows that breast milk has a “beneficial effect” on cardiovascular health and early cardiovascular development in premature infants.

Carried out by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) University of Medicine and Health Sciences, the study of 80 preterm infants is the first of its kind to show that preterm infants with higher exposure to their mother’s own milk had enhanced cardiac function at the age of one, with values approaching those of healthy full-term infants.

People born premature at higher risk of heart disorders

Both children and adults who are born preterm are at an increased risk of a number of cardiovascular disorders.

These can include ischemic heart disease, heart failure, systemic and pulmonary hypertension, and are more likely to die as a result of cardiovascular disease.

The RCSI said that the hearts of babies born prematurely are known to have “unique traits such as reduced biventricular volume, shorter length, lower systolic and diastolic function and a disproportionate increase in muscle mass”.

Such traits can result in impaired heart function, which is significantly lower than that of healthy infants who are born at term. This dysfunction is detectable at hospital discharge and persists throughout their adolescence.

Breastfeeding can help 'normalise' baby's health

The research found that: “Exclusive breast milk consumption in the first months after birth is associated with a normalisation of some of these traits.

Premature infants exposed to a high proportion of their mother’s own milk during the first few weeks after delivery had greater left and right heart function and structure with lower lung pressures and enhanced right heart response to stress at one year of age compared to preterm infants who had a higher intake of formula, with all measures approaching those seen in term-born healthy children. 

Researchers said that the findings were apparent before discharge from the hospital and persisted up to one year of age.

Preterm babies fed their mother’s milk 'demonstrate recovery of their heart function to levels comparable to healthy term-born infants,' said Prof Afif EL-Khuffash, clinical professor of paediatrics at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Picture: RCSI

The study was led by Professor Afif EL-Khuffash, clinical professor of paediatrics at RCSI and consultant neonatologist at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin.

He said that it “provides the first evidence of an association between early postnatal nutrition in preterm-born infants and heart function over the first year of age, and adds to the already known benefits of breast milk for infants born prematurely.

Preterm infants have abnormal heart function. However, those who are fed their mother’s own milk demonstrate recovery of their heart function to levels comparable to healthy term-born infants. Preterm infants fed formula do not demonstrate this recovery.

The study was in collaboration with researchers at University of Oxford; Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Washington University School of Medicine; and Harvard Medical School and was published in the JAMA Network Open journal published by the American Medical Association.