Preterm infant's response to oral stimulations-An integrative literature review

Abstract

This review of literature focused on the systematic review on effects of pre oral stimulation on feeding skills of preterm newborn in the intensive care units. The studies for this review were included based on the following criteria, Studies conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of pre-feeding stimulations, Feeding parameters, Length of hospital stay, and Included preterm infants (more than 28 weeks and less than 37 weeks of gestation). The studies for the review were searched through Pub Med, Medline, CINHAL databases from 2002–2016 and were identified 10 studies. The selected studies varied from sample size, type of intervention, various feeding parameters like feeding skill, gestational age of samples, design, and tools for data collection, method of analysis. The consistency among the studies were identified and organized in a systematic manner. The review helps for the future research on effectiveness pre-feeding stimulation on feeding parameters.