The feeding of premature infants.

Handicaps Premature babies have certain handicaps due to their incomplete development. Those affecting nutrition include weakness or absence of the sucking or swallowing reflexes, a tendency to inhale regurgitated fluids caused by absence of the coughing reflex, poor absorption of food and inadequate antenatal stores. Management of handicaps. If the sucking and swallowing reflexes are completely absent, gavage (oesophageal feeding) is necessary, but weakness or rapid exhaustion of the reflexes may be overcome by giving small frequent feeds or divided feeds with 5 min rest during the feed. The danger of regurgitation and inhalation may be reduced by delaying the commencement of feeding for several days, the smaller the infant, the longer the starvation period. When the infant is fed, it should be placed on its right side with the head raised; a clothed infant should be kept on the one or other side between feeds, when infants are nursed naked the head rolls over naturally on to the side; the feeds should be small and frequent to reduce distension of the stomach, and the smaller infants should be handled as little as possible, especially after feeding. Poor absorption of food and poor antenatal storage are considered in the next section.