The Incubator #386 - 🟢 HOT TOPICS 2025 COVERAGE - Can We Safely Give Full Feeds from Day One to Moderate Preterm Infants?
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Dec 9, 2025 Dr. Shalini Ojha dives into her groundbreaking Feed One trial, exploring the benefits of full enteral feeding for moderate preterm infants from day one. The study challenges the long-held fears surrounding necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), showing no increase in risk while significantly reducing the need for parenteral nutrition and IV interventions. With a focus on streamlined care, this research highlights how early full feeding can simplify the treatment of these vulnerable infants, particularly in resource-limited settings.
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Feeding Fear Drives Practice More Than Evidence
- Fear of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) has driven overly cautious feeding practices for preterm infants despite weak evidence.
- Dr. Shalini Ojha emphasizes feeding is often blamed as an antecedent, not the true cause, of NEC.
The Two A.M. Gut Punch Memory
- Dr. Shalini Ojha recalls walking the nursery at two a.m. and finding a previously well baby with a blown abdomen.
- That gut‑punch memory helps explain why neonatologists remain terrified of NEC.
Multiple Signals Made FeedOne Possible
- The FeedOne trial was feasible because prior trials (like SIFT) increased confidence in milk volumes and concurrent WHO guidance supported pragmatic study.
- Collaboration with groups in India and WHO recommendations helped make the timing right for this trial.