This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Nutritional difficulties

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

When the preterm baby has adjusted to extra-uterine life and is feeding there is the potential for a similar rate of growth to that which would have occurred if the baby had remained in utero. This high growth rate necessitates a ready supply of vitamins and vitamin supplements are often given.

In addition to this the majority of iron transfer from the mother occurs in the third trimester and so preterm babies are usually given iron supplements from the 8th week.

There is also the necessity for calcium and vitamin D supplements in order to prevent osteopathy of immaturity which is characterized by pathological fractures and rickets developing in the first months of life of a preterm infant.


Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page