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Abstract
One of the most common feeding problems of preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) is difficulty reaching full oral feeding. The use of an individualized, evidence-based approach is strongly recommended to assist preterm infants in transitioning from gavage to full oral feeding. Hence, this study to evaluate effect of prefeeding oral stimulation program on oral feeding duration, oral intake rate and net- leakage. A quasi- experimental design was selected for this study, a purposive sample composed of fifty five preterm inefficient feeders less than 37 weeks of gestation selected from two NICUs of Pediatric Hospitals - Cairo University. Twenty seven as intervention group and twenty eight as a control who were left to hospital routine care. Two tools were used for data collection: first tool: feeding performance record: neonatal characteristics, neonate’s physiological responses and neonate’s feeding record. Second tool: prefeeding oral stimulation program recording, three minutes of manual perioral and intraoral stimulation followed by two minutes of sucking on a pacifier was applied to the intervention group twice per day for two consecutive days. Results revealed that the intervention group demonstrated a significant increase in the oral intake rate, less net leakage and shorter oral feeding duration than the control group. In conclusion, prefeeding oral stimulation program improved the inefficient feeder preterm infants feeding performance. Such an intervention should be implemented for preterm infants in the NICUs because it is safe, simple and inexpensive