Table 3 Human milk (HM) and developmental outcome in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants: perinatal, postnatal, social and environmental data*

Pinelli et al. [29]

Type of delivery

Maternal and paternal age, education and occupation, 1 or 2 parent home, social classes I-V (Hollingshead index)

Furman et al. [30]

Delivery at perinatal center, antenatal steroid and cesarean section. Apnea, sepsis, jaundice, necrotizing enterocolitis, chronic lung disease, cranial ultrasound abnormalities.

Maternal education and ethnicity, and marital status

Tanaka et al. [31]

Chronic lung disease, cranial ultrasound, necrotizing entercolitis. Intrauterine growth retardation

Maternal age and education

Horwood et al. [32]

Sex, multiple births, birth weight, gestational age, intrauterine growth retardation, 5 min Apgar score

Maternal age, education and smoking, 1 or 2 parents, family income, child ethnicity, birth order

Smith et al. [33]

Length of hospital stay

Maternal age, verbal ability, education, cigarette smoking and marital status, Home observation for measurement of the environment inventory – short version, annual household income, gender, parity

Johnson et al. [34]

Birth weight, gestation, antenatal steroid, premature rupture of membranes, vaginal breech delivery, chorioamnionitis, admission temperature <35°C, CRIB score, abnormal last cranial ultrasound, necrotizing entercolitis, postnatal steroid, duration of NICU admission. Neurodevelopmental assessment results at 30 m and 6 y

Socioeconomic (UK National Statistics Socio-Economic classification), maternal age, race and highest education.

Vohr et al. [35]

Gestation, gender, sepsis, intraventricular hemorrhage grade 3 to 4, periventricular leukomalacia, oxygen need at 36 weeks, necrotizing enterocolitis, and weight <10th percentile at 18 months.

Maternal age and education, marital and health insurance status, race, and income.