CanDo 

Welcome to CanDo Trial: Enhancing Infant Health through Research

At CanDo Trial, we're passionate about promoting the health and well-being of infants through our research. Here's a friendly overview of what we're all about:

Our Mission:

Human milk is a precious resource, especially for our little ones. Research has shown that human donor milk can provide numerous health benefits for preterm infants. Many late preterm and term infants admitted to well-baby units may need supplementation for various reasons, such as hypoglycemia, weight loss, or a limited supply of their parent's milk. However, the decision of which supplement to provide has limited guidance. Despite this, more hospitals are introducing donor milk in well-baby units due to the recognized health advantages of human milk.

Our Goals:

Our primary goal is to compare the effects of supplementing parent's milk with donor milk versus formula in infants at increased risk for supplementation. This includes infants born to mothers with diabetes or infants with lower-than-expected birth weights. We're particularly interested in their exclusive human milk feeding rates at 4 months of age. We also have several secondary aims, including looking at feeding rates at 1, 2, and 3 months, as well as infant health and growth during hospital stays and up to 4 months. We'll even assess breastfeeding self-efficacy scores. And there's more – we're also exploring infant temperament, parental mental health, milk cortisol concentrations, the use of informally shared milk, and the financial costs of a donor milk program versus formula.

Our Approach:

We're conducting a randomized, controlled, single-center trial with two intervention groups. Participants will receive either donor milk or formula in bottles during their baby's initial hospitalization. We'll follow up with monthly phone calls and a virtual or in-person assessment at 4 months. Throughout the study, we'll collect data on breastfeeding self-efficacy, infant health, and temperament. We'll also measure your baby's growth and assess parental well-being. We're even analyzing cortisol concentrations in milk samples. Our team is a blend of experts in nursing, medicine, dietetics, and milk banking, all with experience in newborn feeding interventions and donor milk trials.

Our Vision:

Our research holds the potential to bring about real change in public health. With a significant number of level I nursery admissions in Canada each year and high rates of formula supplementation, there's a clear opportunity for improvement. We're dedicated to promoting exclusive human milk feeding, shaping evidence-based practices, and reducing the reliance on informal milk sharing. By doing so, we aim to enhance the well-being of both parents and infants while deepening our understanding of early parent-child interactions.

Thank you for visiting the CanDo Trial website. Your support and interest in our work mean the world to us. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of infants and their families.
 

Stay connected with us! If you have any questions or would like to get in touch, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can contact us via email at CanDoTrial@sinaihealth.ca or give us a call at 437-335-6368. We're here to help and look forward to connecting with you.

Warm regards,

The CanDo Trial Team