for hospitals & NICUs
What does a single case of NEC actually cost your unit?
Necrotizing enterocolitis is one of the most devastating conditions a premature infant can face. Before any conversation about donor milk, it's worth reviewing what your unit is already absorbing.
the cost of a single case
What a single case adds, before any lifelong complications.
$74,004
in added cost for a single medical NEC case.
$198,040
in added cost when a case turns surgical.
+60 days
of additional NICU stay a surgical case can add.
Cost figures: Ganapathy et al., 2012.
More than a number.
A single case of NEC is not just a clinical event; it is a whole-unit disruption that reshapes outcomes for the infant, the family, and the hospital. NEC instantly transforms a routine NICU stay into a prolonged, resource-intensive hospitalization marked by emergency surgery, weeks of critical care, cascading complications, and a dramatically higher risk of mortality. It adds 30–60+ extra days to the NICU census, drives pharmacy, respiratory, laboratory, and surgical costs to 2–3× normal levels, and often results in readmissions, long-term gastrointestinal disease, neurodevelopmental impairment, and lifelong care needs. For hospitals, NEC is the convergence of avoidable suffering, avoidable cost, and avoidable strain on staff, beds, and budgets; a single diagnosis that reverberates across the entire unit.
Multiply even a handful of cases a year by these figures and NEC becomes one of the most deadly and expensive conditions in the unit. Human milk is a protective factor in reducing NEC.
what actually moves this number
An exclusive human milk diet is the most studied way to reduce it.
The evidence connecting human milk feeding to lower NEC risk is among the strongest in neonatology.
4×
higher hospital charges for infants with NEC compared with infants without NEC.
$11
estimated return for every $1 spent on pasteurized donor human milk.
Fewer
surgical cases, readmissions, and days of stay, where it matters most to a budget.
Bisquera JA, Cooper TR, Berseth CL. Journal of Pediatrics. 2002;141(3):387-392.
run the numbers for your unit
Put your own case volume against these figures.
Our hospital team can walk you through the evidence, the ROI, and what an exclusive human milk diet would look like in your NICU. No pressure, just the numbers your committee needs.