The Effect of the 5 Minute Premature Infant Oral Motor Intervention (PIOMI) Versus the 15 Minute Oral Stimulation Program for Breastfeeding Achievement in Term Infants with Feeding Problems: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Objectives: Feeding problems can occur in early-term infants born at 37 weeks; Early-term and term infants may benefit from oral motor therapy to attain successful breastfeeding. The present study aimed to determine the impact of the 5-minute premature infant oral motor intervention (PIOMI) and the 15-minute oral stimulation program (15 minute Oral Stimulation Program) on 37-41 week infants in the attainment of successful breastfeeding. Methods: This clinical trial included early term and term infants in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) of two hospitals in Mashhad, Iran, who were randomly divided into two intervention groups (PIOMI or 15 minute Oral Stimulation Program) and a control group (17 infantss in each group). These three groups were then compared to each other. Pediatricians and speech and language specialists evaluated their breastfeeding. All statistical analysis was performed using R 4.0.2 and the significance level was set at 0.05. Results: Infants in both groups were able to attain different levels of breastfeeding from pre to post-intervention; this could be due to our interventions or due to natural growth and development (p-value<0.05). However, the longer the infants' oral motor therapy time was, the more likely they were to breastfeed successfully; the 15 minute Oral Stimulation Program group had a significantly higher number of male infants attaining breastfeeding after treatment than both the control group and the PIOMI group (p-value = 0.03). Discussion: The PIOMI has been confirmed as an effective early intervention for small preterm infants as young as 29 weeks, and the short 5-minute therapy time is accepted in the preterm infant population. It influences the brain’s plasticity and improves neurosensory and motor skill development for feeding. The current study indicates that PIOMI remains effective versus the control group in the term population as well, though the longer 15 minute Oral Stimulation Program, while being similar is more effective in term infants; this shows that term infants can endure and benefit from longer than 5 minutes per day of oral motor therapy.