Oresta Rule receives UnityPoint Health – Meriter Foundation grant supporting a project to provide human donor milk to infants needing supplemental feeding

Oresta Rule, MD, assistant professor in both the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and the Division of Neonatology and Newborn Nursery, was recently awarded a $10,000 grant from the UnityPoint Health – Meriter Foundation Research and Education Committee. The grant supports her research entitled, “Providing Equitable Access to Human Donor Milk (HDM) for Breastfeeding Dyads Who Require Early Limited Supplemental Feedings.” In this one-year pilot project, Rule aims to increase equitable access to human donor milk for infants at risk of feeding difficulties and hospital readmission. This would limit hospital readmission of the infants due to excessive weight loss, dehydration, or hyperbilirubinemia. The project will promote and support long-term exclusive human milk feeding.