Prolacta Bioscience Celebrates Breastfeeding Awareness Month and Those Who Help Bring the Healing Power of Breast Milk to Premature Infants

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 17, 2016) -  Prolacta Bioscience^®, the pioneer in human milk-based neonatal nutritional products, announced today its support of Breastfeeding Awareness Month by celebrating the women who help bring the healing power of breast milk to the most fragile premature infants the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). 

Of the 4 million annual US births, approximately 2,000 breastfeeding moms donate their excess breast milk to Prolacta for use in life-saving neonatal nutritional products used in hospital NICUs. To celebrate their commitment, Prolacta is inviting current and past donors to post photos and share their reasons for supporting breastfeeding, along with their breastfeeding tips, via social media with the hashtag #Prolacta4BF. 

"We honor and thank breastfeeding mothers for their commitment to the health of babies, and the vital role they play in the lives of the micro preemies who rely on Prolacta's neonatal nutritional products," said Scott Elster, president and CEO of Prolacta Bioscience. 

Scientific evidence supports the health benefits of an exclusive human milk diet (EHMD) for preemies in the NICU, as opposed to cow milk-based nutrition or formula. An EHMD means 100 percent of the protein, fat and carbohydrates are derived solely from human milk. When used as part of an EHMD, Prolacta Bioscience's neonatal nutritional products are clinically proven to improve health outcomes^{i ii iii} and reduce hospital costs^{iv v} for critically ill, extremely premature infants in the NICU weighing between 500-1,250g at birth, as compared to cow milk-based fortifier or preterm formula.

About Prolacta Bioscience
Prolacta Bioscience, Inc. is a privately-held life sciences company dedicated to Advancing the Science of Human Milk^®. The company pioneered the development of human milk-based neonatal nutritional products to meet the needs of critically ill, premature infants in the NICU. Prolacta leads the industry in the quality and safety of nutritional products made from donor breast milk and operates the first and only pharmaceutical-grade manufacturing facility for the processing of human breast milk. For more information please visit www.prolacta.com.

ⁱ Sullivan S, et al., "An Exclusive Human Milk-Based Diet is Associated with a Lower Rate of Necrotizing Enterocolitis than a Diet of Human Milk and Bovine Milk-Based Products." Journal of Pediatrics. 2010;156(4):562-567
ⁱⁱ Cristofalo E, et al., "Randomized Trial of Exclusive Human Milk versus Preterm Formula Diets in Extremely Premature Infants." Journal of Pediatrics. 2013;163(6):1592-1595
ⁱⁱⁱ Abrams S, et al., "Greater Mortality and Morbidity in Extremely Preterm Infants Fed a Diet Containing Cow Milk Protein Products." Breastfeeding Medicine. 2014;9(6):281-285
^iv Ganapathy V, et al., "Costs of Necrotizing Enterocolitis and Cost Effectiveness of Exclusively Human Milk-Based Products in Feeding Extremely Premature Infants." Breastfeeding Medicine. 2012;7(1):29-37
^v Assad M, et al., "Decreased Cost and Improved Feeding Tolerance in VLBW Infants Fed an Exclusive Human Milk Diet." Journal of Perinatology. 2015;1-5