Your Baby's Nutritional Needs
In the beginning, very tiny premature babies cannot suck, swallow and breathe well enough to meet their needs. Many of them would use more energy trying to suck and swallow than they would get back from the milk. This is why your baby's first calories will be given through an intravenous line (also called an IV line). They may also be fed with a fine tube through their nose or mouth into the stomach.
Using IV lines and tubes for feeding has worked well for thousands of babies. You might think that the tubes in your baby's throat or into the veins could cause him/her pain or discomfort, but they do not. Any discomfort would last for just a moment or two while the tube is first placed.
Your breast milk will provide your baby with nutrition to fit most of their needs. If no breast milk is available, the doctors may discuss using donor breast milk with you until your baby can receive a special formula for premature infants.
Nutrition through IV lines and/or through tubes will be balanced and adjusted to what works best for him/her. As your baby grows, the natural suck and swallow reflexes will develop. Then your baby will be able to breastfeed, or if you choose, to bottle-feed.
Breast milk provides important nutrients that a premature infant needs to grow and also provides protection against some infections. However, some of these nutrients and protective agents are not available in premature infant formulas. Some units recommend that extremely preterm infants receive donor breast milk for the first weeks of life if there is a medical reason why a mother cannot breastfeed.
Even if you were not planning to breastfeed, it is important to your baby that you provide breast milk by expressing your breasts with an electric breast pump. This milk will be fed to your baby through a feeding tube or by bottle.
The nurses can explain to you how to pump, store, and transport your breast milk properly. You will need to start expressing (pumping) milk from your breasts soon after giving birth. Express your milk at least 8 times daily (and up to 12 times, if possible).
When your baby starts to go to the breast, work out a feeding plan with your baby's nurse. It is important to find the right combination of breastfeeding and pumping to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of breast milk when your baby is discharged from the hospital, and that he is feeding well at your breast.