Assessment of Oral Feeding Readiness in Preterm Neonates

Feeding difficulties are most common complications experienced by preterm infants hospitalized in NICU and discharge from the hospital is often dependent on infants sufficient oral feeding skills achievement to accomplish appropriate growth and also the feeding difficulties are a frequent reason for prolonged length of hospital stay. 

Delayed development of primitive reflexes like rooting, sucking and gag reflex leads to reduced oral readiness in premature. Lack of coordination of suck, swallow and breathe, prolonged usage of artificial ventilation via ET tube has influence on oral motor function of infant. Even the preterm infants who are not under the high risk groups (not admitted in NICU) can also present with reduced or delayed oral feeding readiness. All these factors leads to oral feeding difficulties which results in prolonged complications like aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition, NEC, growth difficulties, immaturity of immune system, dysphagia which can lead to speech difficulties in further future of child. Most of the preterm present with failure to thrive and preterm mortality is high at the early neonatal period.

As the oral feeding readiness leads to such prolonged complications of an infant there is a need of early screening of oral readiness and early intervention of oral motor stimulation to prevent the complications and to increase the survival rate of preterm in neonatal period and also reduce the duration of NICU stay.

Thus this study intends to identify the oral feeding readiness in premature neonates in our setup.