We hypothesize that short term infection-related benefits of human milk feeding are decreased by the process of pasteurization. Primary objective of the study is to compare the incidence of late-onset sepsis in very low birth weight infants assigned randomly to receive either pasteurized or raw expressed mothers'own milk.

In this prospective, randomized, controlled trial, all patients born before 32 weeks of gestational age and/or with birth weight below 1500 g admitted to the tertiary neonatal intensive care unit(NICU) of the University Hospitals Leuven within 24 hours of birth, are eligible for inclusion in the study except for infants who died within the first 24 hours. Infants whose mothers intend to breastfeed will be randomly assigned, using a digital system, to receive either raw or pasteurized mother's own milk. The duration of the study is from birth to eight weeks of age or to discharge from the NICU, whichever occurs first. The need to ensure proper handling of the milk precludes true blinding of the caregivers. The institutional review board approved the study and written informed parental consent iss obtained before enrolment.

Inclusion Criteria:

• all patients born before 32 weeks of gestational age and/or with BW below 1500 g admitted to the tertiary NICU of the University Hospitals Leuven within 24 hours of birth

Exclusion Criteria:

• died within 24 hours after birth
• no consent
• admitted after 24 hours of birth