Age and weight at final discharge from an early discharge programme for stable but tube-fed preterm infants
A M Ahnfeldt1, H Stanchev, H L Jørgensen
1Department of Neonatology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Insights
Early discharge programs for preterm infants improved breastfeeding rates but did not significantly alter weight gain or shorten total hospital stays. Neonatal nurses provided home visits to support infants requiring tube feeding.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Pediatric health outcomes
- Public health initiatives
Background:
- Preterm birth often leads to extended hospitalizations, impacting parent-child bonding and breastfeeding.
- Early discharge programs aim to mitigate these challenges by facilitating earlier home transitions for stable preterm infants.
- Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) graduates often require specialized support, including home visits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of an early discharge program for preterm infants.
- To assess the impact of the program on infant well-being, focusing on weight gain and breastfeeding rates.
- To determine the effect of the early discharge program on the total duration of hospitalization.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective study comparing 500 infants in an early discharge program with 400 infants from conventional discharge protocols.
- Data collected over an 11-year period.
- Outcomes measured included weight-for-age, breastfeeding status, and length of hospital stay.
Main Results:
- Infants in the early discharge group were younger upon entering the program but had a similar weight-for-age at discharge compared to the control group.
- The early discharge program was associated with higher rates of full or partial breastfeeding (88% vs. 80%).
- Total hospital admission was longer for the early discharge group, although the initial hospital stay was only marginally shorter.
Conclusions:
- Early discharge programs may enhance breastfeeding success in preterm infants.
- While weight-for-age at discharge was comparable, the program resulted in a longer overall hospital stay.
- Further research is needed to fully assess the long-term benefits and optimize early discharge strategies for preterm infants.
Aim:
Preterm birth is often associated with prolonged hospitalisation, complicating the parent-child relationship and breastfeeding rates. As a result, an early discharge programme was implemented in the department of neonatology at Rigshospitalet. The infants were stable, but required tube feeding, and during the programme, they received home visits by neonatal nurses. We evaluated the programme, focusing on the infants' well-being, using weight gain, breastfeeding rates and total duration of hospitalisation as outcomes.
Methods:
Over an 11-year period, 500 infants participated in the programme and they constituted the early discharge group. They were compared with 400 infants discharged from the Naestved and Nykoebing Falster hospitals.
Results:
The early discharge group's length of hospitalisation was only three days shorter than the comparison group, but they were eight days younger when they joined the programme (p < 0.0001). Total admission was 21 days longer (p < 0.0001). There was no difference in weight-for-age at discharge (p = 0.15), but infants in the early discharge group were more frequently fully or partly breastfed (88% versus 80%, p < 0.005).
Conclusion:
While recognising the limited comparability of the two groups, weight-for-age at discharge was similar, but the programme appeared to allow better breastfeeding success at the expense of a later final discharge.
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