Over 1,000 lawsuits have been filed against the nation’s leading baby formula manufacturers, alleging a link between cow milk-based formula and fortifiers for premature infants and an often-fatal intestinal disease called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

The complaints allege the companies failed to inform parents about the risks preemies face for developing NEC when fed cow milk-based products in the earliest weeks of life. But the manufacturers deny their products are unsafe and argue they’re the only available nutritional options for preterm babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

This is not true. There is another option for the tiniest premature infants in the NICU: 100% human milk-based nutritional products made from donor breast milk.

As the mother of a preterm daughter, and a long-time advocate for preemie babies and their parents, I’ve followed this preterm nutrition controversy closely. Quite frankly, I am stunned by the lack of real information being put forward in the war of words in newspapers and on television.

My daughter, Rebecca, was born 10 weeks early in 2003. She weighed just under three pounds.

About a month into Rebecca’s stay in the NICU, clinicians began augmenting my pumped breast milk (which I started hours after her birth on my own) with cow milk-based fortifier. I was never consulted about this decision and was only informed after the fact that they had added a cow-milk based nutritional supplement to her feedings. Rebecca was still frail at that point but holding her own.

Within a few days of receiving the cow milk-based fortifier, however, she suddenly began experiencing a host of feeding and digestive issues.

She began having difficulty keeping her food down and developed acute acid reflux. She also was losing weight. Her complications led to an IV-site infection, which then led to sepsis. For several agonizing days and nights, it appeared we’d lose her. Thankfully, after 38 days in the NICU, she was able to come home, albeit on oxygen and a heart monitor. But she was soon back in the hospital with yet another feeding issue. I feared that we were going to be that family that lived in the hospital.

Eventually, Rebecca stabilized and grew stronger. Although, her life’s journey has been different than what most others experience. She has ADHD and is on the autism spectrum. She was also diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was 13, and specialists now believe it’s likely the early infection played a role in her developmental challenges.

I will never know for certain whether the cow milk-based fortifier Rebecca received set in motion the health challenges that she subsequently faced. But what I do know is that her problems began almost immediately after she received the product.

In response to the recent wave of litigation surrounding cow milk-based fortifiers, manufacturers warn a public health crisis could ensue if their products are pulled off the market. This creates unnecessary fear for parents who are already in a heightened state of anxiety, as I was. Scared parents should not be made to worry about whether or not their premature baby will have access to the nutrition they need to grow.

What the manufacturers fail to mention is that a proven alternative to cow milk-based fortifiers and preterm infant formulas has been helping the tiniest babies grow stronger for over 15 years.

The 2006 introduction of human milk-based fortifiers – made from donor breast milk – marked one of the most significant breakthroughs in neonatal care. The human milk-based products offer a better alternative to cow milk-based fortifiers for the most vulnerable preemies -- those born weighing 1250g (2.75 pounds) or less.

More than 30 studies have shown that a human milk-based diet improves outcomes for the smallest preterm babies by boosting survival rates, growth, and development, all while reducing risk of NEC. The advantages should not come as a surprise: these products contain human-specific nutritional components that cow milk simply can’t match.

But ultimately, the real question is: why aren’t parents being informed of these nutritional options?

The disconnect stems largely from widespread assumptions that human milk-based nutritional treatments are cost-prohibitive when compared to low- or no-cost cow milk-based products. But research has shown that hospitals with human milk-based NICU programs can actually save some hospitals between $500,000 and $3.4 million annually through reduced complications and shorter hospital stays.

Moreover, it’s important for parents to understand that hospitals, not parents, bear the costs of human milk-based products, and in most states, these products can be reimbursed by insurance companies.

Human milk-based fortifiers were not yet available when Rebecca was born but now the NICU where she spent her earliest days relies on them. Part of my mission as an advocate for premature infants and their families is to push to ensure all preemie parents are included in decisions about their infant’s care, including nutrition, and all have an opportunity to discuss the best options for their child.

Each year, about 1 in 10 American babies are born early and approximately 20,000 die, with NEC being one of the leading causes of mortality. Increasing awareness of human milk-based fortifiers and formulas may help reduce the incidence of this and other illnesses while enabling a brighter future with fewer complications for preemies and their families.

Enough with the politics and the drama. Give these fragile babies the best start possible. Rebecca may have to live with disabilities the rest of her life, but I refuse to let other families suffer these consequences when there is an obvious and clinically proven solution.

Deborah Discenza is a preemie mom and co-founder of the non-profit, PreemieWorld Foundation Inc., an organization providing education, tools, and outcomes data to families of premature infants.