A 100% human milk-based fortifier from Prolacta® Bioscience
Clinicians
For more than two decades, Prolacta Bioscience has been the world’s leading hospital provider of 100% human milk-based nutritional products that help adequately feed premature infants so that they can grow and thrive. Now we’re bringing the power of human milk to critically ill infants with gastroschisis, requiring corrective surgical procedures – helping them achieve healthy growth and recovery.
Now, you have options
Health care professionals (HCPs) seeking a nutritional product clinically proven to support the growth and overall development of these critically ill infants requiring surgery, need not look further. Surgifort, a pasteurized, human milk-based fortifier, works in conjunction with mother’s own milk (MOM) or donor milk (DM) as part of an Exclusive Human Milk Diet (EHMD).
By integrating seamlessly with MOM or DM, Surgifort® fortifier delivers an alternative to cow milk-based fortifiers and formulas, whereby supporting post-operative recovery. With Surgifort, HCPs can confidently provide an option to feed this vulnerable patient population throughout such a challenging phase of recovery.1
What the research shows
Surgifort fortifier extends many of the proven benefits of Prolacta's 100% human milk-based nutritional products, originally designed for preterm infants, and now available as a specific formulation for term infants with gastroschisis, requiring corrective surgical procedures.
Term infants requiring surgery encounter challenges with feeding and growth, such as:
- Achieving desired growth rates2
- High metabolic needs/increased nutrient requirements2
- volume restriction2
- Feeding intolerance2
- NEC rates2
While human milk is optimally beneficial nutrition for all infants, those requiring surgery are sometimes volume restricted, while having increased nutritional needs. This results in the inability to consume adequate quantities of unfortified human milk to support their growth. A fortifier is therefore needed to deliver the necessary amounts of protein, fat, and carbohydrates to support optimal growth while maintaining preferred osmolality. 1 2
Nutrition needs of patients with congenital GI disorders
Though human milk is widely regarded as optimal nutrition for infants and further recommended for those under six months of age, it may not allow for adequate intake of caloric or protein standards for critically ill infants requiring surgery. Currently, fortification options for term infants are limited to infant formula or fortifiers designed for preterm infants. However, exposure to cow's milk protein in formula, or fortifier, poses an increased risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants and is similarly concerning for infants with gastroschisis, who face an elevated risk of NEC as high as 5%.3
Prolacta’s dedication to the outcome-improving benefits of human milk nutrition inspired the research and development of Surgifort. Developed for critically ill infants requiring gastrointestinal surgery, Surgifort aims to improve the outcomes of these small patient populations. Gastroschisis occurs in 1 of 2400 births in the US.4 Surgifort fortifier is the first and only 100% human milk-based fortifier intended for term infants with gastroschisis who have undergone a corrective procedure.
When mixed with MOM or DM, Surgifort achieves nutrition within the recommendations established by the National Academy of Medicine.5 Surgifort fortifier provides the appropriate amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrates required for term infants with gastroschisis who have undergone a corrective procedure. Surgifort fortifier can be mixed with MOM or DM at different ratios to customize caloric content for each infant’s individual growth and nutritional needs. Whereby achieving adequate growth and weight gain proves critical to healthy development in infants requiring surgery for gastroschisis.
Nutrition information
To support clinical decision-making for an Exclusive Human Milk Diet (EHMD), detailed nutrient information for Surgifort fortifier is provided below.
Exclusive Human Milk Diet (EHMD)
Surgifort is a human milk–based, human milk fortifier designed to meet the nutritional needs of full-term infants with gastroschisis who have undergone surgical procedures. When used as part of an EHMD and added to mother’s own milk, or to donor human milk, Surgifort fortifier provides an appropriate amount of calories, protein, and minerals required for infants to grow and heal. For more information about an exclusive human milk diet, reach out to us for clinician-to-clinician orientation.
Already using Surgifort? These resources are for you.
Here is where you will find product preparation instructions and supplementary information.
Prolacta Clinical Advisory Board (PCAB)
Prolacta’s Clinical Advisory Board is a group of multidisciplinary clinicians who are passionate about human milk science and nutrition. After witnessing first-hand the improved patient outcomes of an Exclusive Human Milk Diet (EHMD), our mission is to share clinical expertise and emerging research, thereby enhancing clinical practice, education, and outcomes in critically ill infants and other vulnerable patients.