Joanne Meran
The nutritional requirements of preterm infants are unique and challenging to meet in neonatal care, yet crucial for their growth and development. The development of the gut microbiota is associated with the gestational age. However, the variation in gut microbiota composition is linked to a unique set of environmental conditions, including the environment of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) , its associated common clinical practices and feeding regimens. Simultaneous maturation of the gut microbiota, gastrointestinal tract, and immune system in early life are playing a cornerstone role in infant growth and development. Impaired maturation of the gut microbiota, gastrointestinal tract, and immune system could have serious health consequences. More than half of the hospitalised preterm infants are being discharged with ongoing severe post-natal growth impairment which in turn is associated with poor neuro-cognitive functions. Strict feeding regimens are needed in the neonatal period to stimulate maturation processes, growth, and organ development. We will describe the preterm gut microbiota composition, the environmental conditions contributing to this; and the interaction between feedings, the gut microbiota, the gastrointestinal tract maturation and the immune system with the emphasis on the benefit from weight gain, implicating growth can be considered as health indicator.