Publication Date
2015
Journal Title
J Neonatal Nurs
Abstract
AIM: Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants have difficulty transitioning to independent oral feeding, be they breast- or bottle-feeding. We developed a 'self-paced' feeding system that eliminates the natural presence of the positive hydrostatic pressure and internal vacuum build-up within a bottle during feeding. Such system enhanced these infants' oral feeding performance as monitored by overall transfer (OT; % ml taken/ml prescribed), rate of transfer (RT; ml/min over an entire feeding). This study hypothesizes that the improvements observed in these infants resulted from their ability to use more mature oral feeding skills (OFS). METHODS: 'Feeders and growers' born between 26-29 weeks gestation were assigned to a control or experimental group fed with a standard or self-paced bottle, respectively. They were monitored when taking 1-2 and 6-8 oral feedings/day. OFS was monitored using our recently published non-invasive assessment scale that identifies 4 maturity levels based on infants' RT and proficiency (PRO; % ml taken during the first 5 min of a feeding/total ml prescribed) during bottle feeding. RESULTS: Infants oral feeding outcomes, i.e., OT, RT, PRO, and OFS maturity levels were enhanced in infants fed with the self-paced vs. standard bottle (p
Volume Number
21
Issue Number
3
Pages
121-126
Document Type
Article
EPub Date
2015/05/23
Status
Faculty
Facility
School of Medicine
Primary Department
General Pediatrics
PMID
DOI
10.1016/j.jnn.2014.08.004