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Factors related to sucking ability in healthy newborns
1Department of Maternal/Child Health, Rush University, Chicago, IL, USA. macmullen@rushu.rush.edu
Objective:
To identify maternal, infant, and environmental factors related to newborn sucking ability.
Design:
Prospective, descriptive, exploratory study using a convenience sample.
Setting:
Normal newborn nursery in an urban tertiary-care medical center.
Participants:
Two hundred three healthy newborns admitted to the normal newborn nursery after delivery. The newborns were between 30 minutes and 11 hours of age, and between 34 and 42 weeks gestation.
Main Outcome Measures:
This study examined 15 variables related to newborn sucking ability: infant state, age, gestational age, Apgar scores, birth weight, labor medications, type of delivery, elapsed time since last feeding, infant sex, perinatal complications, infant vital signs, birth resuscitation, clothing, room temperature, and length of labor. Sucking ability was measured by the Neonatal Oral Motor Assessment Scale (NOMAS).
Results:
The variables of gestational age, weight, and state were positively correlated with sucking ability (NOMAS scores). Newborn's age postdelivery and minutes to the quiet alert state were inversely correlated with sucking ability.
Conclusions:
Newborn weight and gestational age are related to sucking ability. Younger newborns had better sucking ability than did older newborns.