The Influence of Feeding Source on the Gut Microbiome and Time to Full Feeds in Neonates With Congenital Gastrointestinal Pathologies

April 28, 2026 updated by: Katie, Seattle Children's Hospital
This study explores the use of an exclusive human milk diet versus standard feeding practices to compare the influence on feeding outcomes and the gut bacteria in infants with intestinal differences.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
116

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Infants with gastroschisis, giant omphalocele, intestinal atresia, mid-gut volvulus, hirschsprungs disease.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Infant has already been on feeds
  2. Infants <34 weeks gestation
  3. Parents with contraindications to providing milk (i.e. drug use-cocaine, fentanyl, meth BUT oxy/suboxone/marijuana OK)
  4. Complicated gastroschisis
  5. Short gut syndrome
  6. Additional congenital anomalies that affect ability to tolerate milk (i.e. cyanotic congenital heart disease BUT kidney disease ok)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Exclusive human milk
Mothers will consent to providing DHM if MOM is not available. If the infant reaches 100 ml/kg/day of feeds (one feed advancement prior to full feeds) and MOM remains unavailable, they will transition to formula in preparation for discharge. Infants cannot be discharged on donor milk.
Dietary supplement: Exclusive Human Milk
Mothers will consent to providing DHM if MOM is not available. If the infant reaches 100 ml/kg/day of feeds (one feed advancement prior to full feeds) and MOM remains unavailable, they will transition to formula in preparation for discharge. Infants cannot be discharged on donor milk.
Experimental: Standard of care
Mothers will consent to providing DHM (if qualifies per hospital policy) or formula if MOM is not available. Infants are only eligible to receive donor milk only if 1) MOM is not available 2) if infant initiates feeds before day 3 of age. The donor milk feed would be stopped on day 5 of age. After day five of age, the infant will receive formula if MOM is not available. This is congruent with the current donor milk policy (see Policy #12785). It is highly unlikely given these infants would receive any donor milk because these infants require surgery and often are waiting return of bowel function . The median age of initiation of feeds is 12 days of age for infants with gastroschisis (PMID: 33647253) which exceeds the days of what the hospital policy says for eligibility which is initiates feed before day 3 of age. If the infant does not qualify for any donor milk and MOM is not available, the infant will receive formula
Dietary supplement: Standard of Care
Standard of care arm: Mothers will consent to providing DHM (if qualifies per hospital policy) or formula if MOM is not available. Infants are only eligible to receive donor milk only if 1) MOM is not available 2) if infant initiates feeds before day 3 of age. The donor milk feed would be stopped on day 5 of age.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Time to full feed
Time Frame: From birth to 120 days or until discharge
: In infants with congenital gastrointestinal pathologies (gastroschisis, giant omphalocele, atresia, midgut volvulus, Hirschsprung disease, CGP), to determine if use of an exclusive human milk diet will decrease the number of days to full feeding volume (120 ml/kg/day) (29 subjects per power calculation) compared to human milk/formula
From birth to 120 days or until discharge

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Central line infection rate
Time Frame: up to 120 days or discharge
To compare rate of central line infections in infants given exclusive human milk versus infants given standard care.
up to 120 days or discharge
Portion of parents own milk at time of discharge
Time Frame: Up to 120 days or discharge
: To compare proportion of parents providing any/exclusive mother's own milk (MOM) at discharge in infants given exclusive human milk arm versus standard care arm
Up to 120 days or discharge
Gut Microbiome Relative Abundance and Diversity
Time Frame: Up to 120 days or discharge
To examine if utilization of donor milk when mother's own milk is insufficient alters the infant's gut microbiome alpha diversity and beta diversity and bacterial relative abundances
Up to 120 days or discharge
Mother's milk microbiome relative abundance and diversity
Time Frame: Up to 120 days or discharge
To discern how mother's own milk microbiome differs from donor milk microbiome relative abundances and diversity. We will examine how the milk microbiomes influences the infant's gut microbiome and time to full feeds.
Up to 120 days or discharge
Concentrations of Antigen-specific immunoglobulins
Time Frame: From birth to 120 days or discharge
To compare total and antigen-specific immunoglobulins in donor milk versus MOM
From birth to 120 days or discharge

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Seattle Children's Hospital

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Katie Strobel, MD, Seattle Children's Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 9, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 9, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 9, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 8, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 3, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
October 10, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 30, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 28, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • STUDY00004330: CGP Milk

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings