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Facilitating inactive awake states in preterm infants: a study of three interventions
1Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH.
Insights
Nonnutritive sucking and rocking interventions promote inactive awake states in preterm infants, aiding their transition to oral feeding. These methods may help shorten hospital stays for premature babies.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Developmental pediatrics
- Infant feeding
Background:
- Inactive awake behavioral states are linked to better feeding outcomes in preterm infants.
- Facilitating these states is crucial for improving feeding success and reducing hospital stays.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of nonnutritive sucking, nonnutritive sucking with rocking, and stroking interventions.
- To identify interventions that promote optimal feeding states in preterm infants.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled study involving 20 preterm infants (27-33 weeks gestational age).
- Infants served as their own controls, receiving nonnutritive sucking, nonnutritive sucking plus rocking, stroking, and a control condition.
Main Results:
- Nonnutritive sucking and nonnutritive sucking plus rocking interventions resulted in significantly more inactive awake states.
- These interventions were more effective than stroking or the control condition in promoting desired behavioral states.
Conclusions:
- Nonnutritive sucking and nonnutritive sucking with rocking are effective interventions for facilitating inactive awake states in preterm infants.
- These interventions may support the transition from gavage to oral feeding and potentially shorten hospitalization periods.
Abstract:
Inactive awake behavioral states have been associated with reduced heart rates and more successful feeding in preterm infants. The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of three different interventions to facilitate these optimal feeding states. Twenty preterm infants (gestational ages 27-33 weeks, M = 31.6, SD = 1.7; birth weights 931-2,140 grams, M = 34, SD = 373) serving as their own controls were randomly administered nonnutritive sucking, nonnutritive sucking plus rocking, and stroking interventions; and a control condition. There were significantly more inactive awake states with the nonnutritive sucking and nonnutritive sucking plus rocking interventions than with the stroking intervention and the control conditions. The results suggest that there are interventions that can help preterm infants in the transition from gavage to oral feeding and potentially shorten their hospital stays.