Maternal supplementation, brain development, breastfed preterm infants

When a child is born very prematurely, the brain is not fully mature. Several crucial stages of brain development occur in the weeks following birth. Better nutrition, adapted to the needs of the premature baby, especially with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, an omega-3 found in large quantities in the brain), could have a positive impact on the brain development and neurodevelopment of children born very prematurely.

The MOBYDIckPS study proposes long-term follow-up of preterm infants enrolled in the study. The MOBYDIck study, a Canadian multi-centric study, involves mothers of very premature infants who have taken either a DHA supplement or a placebo during the neonatal period and who then provide their breast milk for the study. Thus, in the mothers randomized to the DHA group, the breast milk was enriched with DHA at a dose similar to that transmitted by the placenta at the end of pregnancy (thus making it possible to meet the needs of the very preterm child). We now have a unique opportunity to determine whether supplementation with a high dose of DHA is a strategy to improve the development of the very preterm infant.