New Personalized Biochemical Analysis of Breast Milk to Help Enhance Nutrition for the Smallest Infants Skip to main content Close Select your preferred language English عربى 简体中文 繁體中文 فارسي עִברִית 日本語 한국어 Русский Español Tagalog Menu Close Call 1-800-CEDARS-1 toggle search form Close 23 December 2013 01:00 AM America/Los_Angeles New Personalized Biochemical Analysis of Breast Milk to Help Enhance Nutrition for the Smallest Infants Physicians Now Analyze Mothers' Milk to Determine if Premature Babies Are Getting Correct Dosages of Nutrients Los Angeles - Dec. 23, 2013 - Physicians in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the Maxine Dunitz Children’s Health Center launched a pilot study in which mothers’ breast milk is analyzed to determine whether premature infants are receiving the correct amounts of nutrients they need to thrive. The study could lead to a new innovation in personalized medicine: individually optimized nutrition for the smallest patients. Currently, the only way to determine if premature newborns are malnourished is to monitor their growth rate. If infants’ growth rates are lagging behind the norm, it is likely they are not receiving the nourishment they need, said Charles F. Simmons Jr., MD, chair of the Cedars-Sinai Department of Pediatrics and director of the Division of Neonatology. "We believe that analyzing mothers’ milk, and then adding food supplements accordingly, is extremely important to the smallest babies," said Simmons, the Ruth and Harry Roman Chair in Neonatology in Honor of Larry Baum. "For example, the pre-term babies who are the most challenged with weight gain are often the babies who are delayed in the development of neurological functions." In the pilot study underway, researchers are examining babies weighing less than 1,500 grams or 3.3 pounds. "In the past, all milk was fortified to be the same and it was one-size-fits-all," Simmons said. "Now, we are moving toward having the ability to personalize each mother’s milk to give her baby the precise nutrition the baby needs." Mothers of the infants in the study provide a sample of breast milk. The sample is put into a device that filters the milk and performs a spectroscopic analysis of the liquid at wave lengths unique for each nutrient. When the analysis is complete, the machine gives a breakdown of the milk’s composition of proteins, fat and carbohydrates. "This analysis lets us know which babies may need nutritional supplements, in addition to their mothers’ milk," Simmons said. "We hope this additional information could lead to more rapid weight gain and a quicker release from the hospital for these premature infants." Share this release New Personalized Biochemical Analysis of Breast Milk to Help Enhance Nutrition for the Smallest Infants Share on: Twitter Share on: Facebook Share on: LinkedIn Search Our Newsroom Social media Visit our Facebook page (opens in new window) Follow us on Twitter (opens in new window) Visit our Youtube profile (opens in new window) (opens in new window) Latest news 07 Oct 2022 - HealthDay: Black Women Less Likely to Get Laparoscopic Fibroid Surgeries 07 Oct 2022 - Faculty Publications: Sept. 29-Oct. 6 07 Oct 2022 - Fine-Tuning Organ-Chip Technology 06 Oct 2022 - KCRW: Want New Omicron Booster? Wait at Least 2 Months After Last Shot 05 Oct 2022 - Cedars-Sinai Schedules Free Flu Vaccine Clinics 04 Oct 2022 - Cedars-Sinai Showcases Hispanic and Latinx Art Newsroom Home