Babies in initial days needs breast milk to fight against many diseases. It is better not to feed them on Formula Milk. The importance of providing breast milk to babies in the NICU is as follows:
- It reduces hospital stay
- It brings down the medication a baby may require especially if there is infection
- There is no need to precure expensive formula feeds
- Breast milk reduces long term morbidity and mortality
- It acts as lifelong health insurance and reduces healthcare costs
- In the long term it increases productivity in society.
