Breastfed babies are hospitalized less frequently than babies who are formula - fed, and are at reduced risk for conditions such as otitis media,
necrotising entercolitis, and jaundice.
The most common infection, necrotizing
entercolitis, can damage the intestines so severely that many babies who acquire it will die.
Necrotizing
entercolitis, or NE, is an intestinal infection that kills more than one - third of the infants who get it.
«Babies who receive mother's milk have fewer infections and fewer problems with their bowel, specifically necrotizing
entercolitis,» says Zeigler.
A week after her birth, Mare suffered necrotizing
entercolitis (NEC), a serious gastrointestinal disease that mostly affects premature infants and involves infection and inflammation that cause destruction of the bowel or part of it.