DUARTE, Calif., Aug. 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prolacta Bioscience, the pioneer in human milk-based neonatal nutritional products for premature infants, announced today that it will celebrate Breastfeeding Awareness Month, in August, with an educational video series featuring expert lactation advice for breastfeeding mothers and a social media photo contest.
Throughout the month, Prolacta is offering a free online video series for breastfeeding mothers. Mothers can submit questions regarding pumping and breastfeeding through Prolacta’s social media channels. In the “Ask a Lactation Expert” video series, Kim Carmignani, MSN, RNS-NIC, a certified lactation counselor with more than 25 years of experience in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), will answer the questions. Carmignani also is a member of Prolacta’s Nursing Practice Advisory Council. The videos will be posted weekly on Fridays in August on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Prolacta also invites breastfeeding mothers to share photos showing their support for breastfeeding on social media with the hashtags #ItTakesAVillage and #NBM18 and tag Prolacta’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Each week, three photos will be selected at random to win a prize. The photo that receives the most likes by noon PST Friday, Aug. 31, will win a $200 gift card.
Each year, over 2,000 breastfeeding moms donate their excess breast milk to Prolacta-affiliated milk banks to help premature infants in the NICU. Prolacta’s neonatal nutritional products are clinically proven to improve health outcomes i ii iii and reduce hospital costs iv v when used as part of an exclusive human milk diet (EHMD) vi for critically ill, extremely premature infants weighing between 500 and 1250 g (1 lb 2 oz to 2 lb 12 oz) at birth, in the NICU, as compared to cow milk-based fortifier or cow milk-based 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.
www.prolacta.com
i Sullivan S, Schanler RJ, Kim JH, et al. An exclusively human milk-based diet is associated with a lower rate of necrotizing enterocolitis than a diet of human milk and bovine milk-based products. J Pediatr. 2010;156(4):562-567. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2009.10.040
ii Cristofalo EA, Schanler RJ, Blanco CL, et al. Randomized trial of exclusive human milk versus preterm formula diets in extremely premature infants. J Pediatr. 2013;163(6):1592-1595. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.07.011
iii Abrams SA, Schanler RJ, Lee ML, Rechtman DJ. Greater mortality and morbidity in extremely preterm infants fed a diet containing cow milk protein products. Breastfeed Med. 2014;9(6):281-285. doi:10.1089/bfm.2014.0024
iv Ganapathy V, Hay JW, Kim JH. Costs of necrotizing enterocolitis and cost-effectiveness of exclusively human milk-based products in feeding extremely premature infants. Breastfeed Med. 2012;7(1):29-37. doi:10.1089/bfm.2011.0002
v Assad M, Elliott MJ, Abraham JH. Decreased cost and improved feeding tolerance in VLBW infants fed an exclusive human milk diet. J Perinatol. 2016;36(3):216-220. doi:10.1038/jp.2015.168
vi An exclusive human milk diet (EHMD) is achieved when 100 percent of the protein, fat and carbohydrates in an infant’s diet are derived from human milk. This diet includes a human milk-based human milk fortifier.