Baby Ava has been in neonatal intensive care since she was born
three months ago. A ventilation tube helps her breathe. She's
not strong enough to nurse. So Glenda Burton pumps breastmilk
every few hours for her baby. "This orange one is her feeding
tube. It delivers her breastmilk to her," Burton explained,
pointing to a thin tube that threads through Ava's nose into the
baby's stomach. At just a teaspoon an hour, mother's milk
provides Ava more than formula could ever deliver. "The first
milk is called colostrum, the very first milk that the mother
makes. And that is actually more than fifty percent comprised of
antibody," explained Seattle Children's Neonatologist Dr.
Isabella Knox. Dr. Knox said researchers are now learning that
breast milk programs a baby's immune system for life. In the
early fragile weeks, it helps preemies survive. "In the
vulnerable babies like the preemies it provides really very
critical immunity to the things that only preemies are
susceptible to," said Dr. Knox. Breast milk prote