Abstract
Background:Oro-motor intervention methods were previously adopted to improve the sucking pattern but there is still a lag in the structured protocol for improving sucking behavior in infants with immature sucking. Thus, this study is aimed to develop a structured protocol for the Oro-motor intervention to improve sucking behavior.Method:Using the prospective observational study design, neonates with poor suck (producing less than 10 sucks per minute), under NG tube feeding, and maintaining oxygen saturation at room air were included. A total of 6 subjects were enrolled in this study and they were treated with Oro-motor intervention protocol. The Sucking rate and LATCH score were taken as the outcome measures and measured at beginning of intervention and after 2 weeks of intervention.Result:The mean pre-test and post-test values for sucking rate were is (8.66), (32.5) and LATCH were (4.66), (8.16) respectively. The data collected showed that the protocol framed for Oro-motor intervention was significantly effective in improving quality of feeding among infants with immature sucking behavior.Conclusion:The structured Oro-motor intervention protocol improves the feeding performance in infants with poor sucking behavior and improves the LATCH score. All the infants included in this study where under nasogastric tube feeding, thus the structured protocol can be considered to be helpful in weaning from NG tube feeding.
Highlights
Effective direct breastfeeding provides short and long duration benefit to mother as well as infant [1]
All the infants included in this study where under nasogastric tube feeding, the structured protocol can be considered to be helpful in weaning from NG tube feeding
The LATCH scale was designed to quantitatively measure the feeding capability of both mother and the infant, reduced latch scores were considered to be a major sign of poor sucking behavior leading to complications such as high risk of aspiration and infections like pneumonia [14]
Summary
Effective direct breastfeeding provides short and long duration benefit to mother as well as infant [1]. Direct breastfeeding helps for appropriate weight gain in neonates and reduces length of stay in the hospital [4]. Primitive reflex sucking develops at 28 weeks of gestation, preterm infants might have immature primitive sucking reflex and leads to poor weight gain during the neonatal period [9, 10]. The LATCH scale was designed to quantitatively measure the feeding capability of both mother and the infant, reduced latch scores were considered to be a major sign of poor sucking behavior leading to complications such as high risk of aspiration and infections like pneumonia [14]. Oro-motor intervention methods were previously adopted to improve the sucking pattern but there is still a lag in the structured protocol for improving sucking behavior in infants with immature sucking. This study is aimed to develop a structured protocol for the Oro-motor intervention to improve sucking behavior
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