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Cardiovascular responses to pacifier experience and feeding in newborn infants
M Cohen1, D R Brown, M M Myers
1Division of Neonatal Medicine, Children's Hospital of New Jersey, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, NJ 07112, USA.
Insights
Giving infants a pacifier before feeding reduces systolic blood pressure increases during feeding. This suggests sucking, not just nutrient intake, elicits infant cardiovascular responses to feeding.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal physiology
- Infant cardiovascular regulation
Background:
- Infant feeding elicits significant cardiovascular responses.
- The specific stimuli (sucking vs. nutrient intake) driving these responses are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of non-nutritive sucking (pacifier use) prior to feeding on infant cardiovascular responses.
- To differentiate the roles of sucking and nutrient intake in cardiovascular regulation during feeding.
Main Methods:
- Studied 28 bottle-feeding infants (12-40 hours old).
- Measured blood pressure and heart rate during three periods: resting, pre-feeding, and feeding.
- Administered pacifiers to half the infants during the pre-feeding period.
Main Results:
- Both blood pressure and heart rate increased across all periods.
- Infants given a pacifier pre-feeding exhibited reduced increases in systolic blood pressure during feeding.
- Heart rate responses appeared influenced by both sucking and nutrient intake.
Conclusions:
- Cardiovascular responses to infant feeding are multifaceted.
- Sucking is a primary elicitor of systolic blood pressure increases during feeding.
- Heart rate responses during feeding depend on both sucking and nutrient intake.
Abstract:
This study examined the effects of sucking on a pacifier immediately before feeding on cardiovascular responses to feeding. Twenty-eight bottle-feeding infants were studied at 12 to 40 hr of age. Blood pressure and heart rate measurements were made during three periods: Period 1-while infants rested in their cribs before a regularly scheduled feeding, Period 2-while being held by the feeder immediately before feeding, and Period 3-during the first 3 to 5 min of feeding. Half of the infants were given a pacifier during Period 2. Blood pressures and heart rates increased across the periods; however, increases in systolic blood pressure during feeding were reduced for the group of infants given a pacifier prior to feeding. We suggest that cardiovascular responses to feeding in infants are comprised of multiple elements. Most of the systolic blood pressure responses to feeding are elicited by sucking whereas the heart rate response is dependent on both sucking and nutrient intake.