Neonatology

Biography

Biography: Chantal Lau

Abstract

The field of infant oral feeding research is understudied as the recognition of its importance came about with the increased preterm population and the realization that a large number of these infants after overcoming life threatening events are not safe and competent oral feeders; the latter, unfortunately, often delaying their discharge home from Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). It is understandable that this research has taken a “back seat” to the more immediate concerns of saving these babies’ lives. However, due to the limited research so far conducted in this domain, currently available therapies are limited and lack evidence-based support from the multi-disciplinary healthcare professionals caring for these babies. Consequently, in NICUs, time for introduction and advancement of oral feeding remain tentative and the management plan for individual infants often is not agreed upon by all. With a greater understanding of the development of infant’s oral feeding skills, we have developed methods to monitor the maturation process of preterm infants’ skills and devised interventions to enhance their feeding performance. This presentation introduces some novel, safe, and efficient interventions, e.g., swallow exercise, massage therapy, that were validated by a simple and new method, the infant oral feeding skills (OFS) assessment scale. This is an approach that does not require any special device and can be used at any time for assessing an infant oral feeding performance. This tool has also allowed us to examine the efficacy of currently used practices, i.e., why some approaches may work for some infants and not others.It is advanced that the availability of evidence-based support for any recommended approach(es) will improve compliance from staff members for the benefit of their young patients.