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Feeding behaviour in preterm neonates
Insights
Preterm infants
Area of Science:
- Neonatology
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Infant Nutrition
Background:
- Preterm infants often face feeding challenges.
- Optimizing feeding efficiency is crucial for preterm infant development.
- Early oral feeding behaviors require standardized assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess feeding efficiency in bottle-fed preterm infants.
- To investigate the relationship between feeding efficiency, gestational age, and feeding experience.
- To develop and validate a neonatal feeding score for early oral feeding behavior.
Main Methods:
- Quantified milk intake volume and teat insertions in 100 preterm infants.
- Correlated feeding efficiency with gestational age and feeding experience duration.
- Developed a neonatal feeding score and assessed its correlation with perinatal, neurological, and developmental outcomes.
Main Results:
- Feeding efficiency improved with higher gestational age (>34 weeks).
- Significant correlation found between feeding efficiency and feeding experience (32-37 weeks gestational age).
- Neonatal feeding score correlated with perinatal assessments, neurological evaluations, and 7-month developmental outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Gestational age and feeding experience significantly impact preterm infant feeding efficiency.
- The developed neonatal feeding score effectively quantifies early oral feeding behavior.
- Feeding behavior is linked to broader aspects of early neurological development, warranting further investigation.
Abstract:
In 100 bottle-fed preterm infants feeding efficiency was studied by quantifying the volume of milk intake per minute and the number of teat insertions per 10 ml of milk intake. These variables were related to gestational age and to number of weeks of feeding experience. Feeding efficiency was greater in infants above 34 weeks gestational age than in those below this age. There was a significant correlation between feeding efficiency and the duration of feeding experience at most gestational ages between 32 and 37 weeks. A characteristic adducted and flexed arm posture was observed during feeding: it changed along with feeding experience. A neonatal feeding score was devised that allowed the quantification of the early oral feeding behavior. The feeding score correlated well with some aspects of perinatal assessment, with some aspects of the neonatal neurological evaluation and with developmental assessment at 7 months of age. These findings are a stimulus to continue our study into the relationships between feeding behaviour and other aspects of early development, especially of neurological development.