ผลของการกระตุ้นการดูดกลืนต่อพฤติกรรมการดูดนมมารดาของทารกเกิดก่อนกำหนด

Abstract

Preterm infants frequently experience oral feeding problems which affect their breastfeeding performance. Oral stimulation is an important activity that may enhance the neuromuscular maturity needed for sucking. This quasi-experimental research study (two group, pretest-posttest design) aimed to examine the effects of oral stimulation on preterm infants’ breastfeeding behaviors between an experimental and a control group. The sample consisted of 20 preterm infants with postconceptional age 30-32 weeks, who were hospitalized at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the Nursery Unit of Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital during May to October 2014. The sample was selected through a purposive sampling method which matched pairs by postconceptional age, body weight, and duration of endotracheal intubation. The subjects were randomly assigned into either the experiment group (n=10) or control group (n=10). The experiment group received oral stimulation once a day for 10 days and the control group received routine care. The instrument used for conducting in this study was an oral stimulation program. Instruments used for data collecting consisted of the demographic data form and the Preterm Infants’ Breastfeeding Behavior Scale (PIBBS). The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, Fisher’s exact test, Independent t-test, and Paired t-test. The results of this study revealed that the score of preterm infants’ breastfeeding behavior in the experimental group was statistically significantly higher than the control group (p < .01). After the experiment, the score of preterm infants’ breastfeeding behavior in both the experimental and the control group was statistically significantly higher than before the experiment (p < .01). The findings of this study show that the implemention of oral stimulation can improve preterm infants’ breastfeeding behaviors. Therefore, nursing staff should utilize oral stimulation to promote good breastfeeding behaviors.