The FEED1 trial shows that babies born 8 to 10 weeks early can be full milk fed from the day of birth without increasing the risk of complications and with a small but significant reduction in need for invasive procedures such as intravenous lines and parenteral nutrition.
The full report of the results has been published in the Journal Lancet Child and Adolescent Health and can been accessed, free of charge, here.
The press release can be accessed here.
Summary of the study
In the UK around eight in 100 babies are born prematurely (before 37 weeks of pregnancy), and around 12% of these are born at 30 and 32 weeks of pregnancy. Babies who are born this early cannot feed for themselves and are given small amounts of milk through a tube into their stomach.
In the past, premature babies have not been started on full milk feeds because of concerns of a serious bowel disease called Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC), however, growing evidence suggested that in premature babies who aren’t too poorly, larger milk feeds can be successfully given without increasing the risk of NEC.
Between October 2019 and July 2024, 2,088 babies from 46 NHS hospitals in the UK participated in the FEED1 trial. 1,047 were randomised to have full milk feeds and 1,041 were gradually fed and had intravenous nutrition.
The findings show that although babies in both groups needed to stay in the hospital for about 30-35 days, but babies fully milk fed from day one needed fewer medical interventions such as fewer intravenous lines, fewer days of intravenous nutrition and less time in intensive care without any increase in the risk of low blood glucose levels, NEC, or infections.
We believe these findings will help improve clinical care of babies born early. Stable babies born at or above 30 weeks should be fully milk fed from the day of birth without the need for intravenous nutrition, so they get the best possible, evidence-based care and benefit from having fewer painful procedures.
The study was funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment award (HTA17/94/31).