An investigation into infant feeding in children born with a cleft lip and/or palate in the West of Scotland.

Abstract

AIM:

To investigate feeding practices in infants born with a cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) in the West of Scotland and the challenges that the parents of these children experienced especially in the first hours and months after birth.

METHODS:

A questionnaire involving a 'face-to-face' interview was completed with parents of cleft children under the age of 6 years with a cleft lip and/or palate attending the Oral Orthopaedic Prevention Clinic (OOPC).

RESULTS:

90 questionnaires were completed and analysed. The incidence of breastfeeding in this study at birth was 54%. In comparison, the incidence of breastfeeding in Scotland nationally was 63% in the year 2000 and 70% in 2005 indicating a lower uptake of breastfeeding for this CLP population. Cleft type had a significant impact on whether the infant was breastfed (p<0.05), those with a cleft lip being more likely to be breastfed. Twenty-nine percent of cleft infants required the use of a naso-gastric tube (NGT) to assist feeding either in hospital during the days following birth or later when there were concerns about the infant's weight. Of these all but one had a CP+/- CL, (p<0.001); 26% of parents reported that their infant had used a pre-surgical appliance; 70% rated the appliance highly in terms of aiding feeding. The help and support given by the cleft team, especially Specialist Cleft Nurses (SCNs), was rated as positive in over 95% of cases but was less positive for the non-cleft health care professionals. Parents found it difficult to find the right feeding method for their baby until they received input from the SCNs and only a minority of parents managed to establish a regular feeding pattern.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study recommends the employment of more SCNs and an improvement of the knowledge of non-cleft health care professionals.

• Authors: K F M Britton, S H McDonald, R R Welbury
• Journal: European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry (Eur Arch Paediatr Dent) Vol. 12 Issue 5 Pg. 250-5 (Oct 2011) ISSN: 1818-6300 [Print] England
• PMID: 21993065 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Topics

• Bottle Feeding (statistics & numerical data)
• Breast Feeding (statistics & numerical data)
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Cleft Lip (complications, nursing)
• Cleft Palate (complications, nursing)
• Dental Audit
• Enteral Nutrition (statistics & numerical data)
• Feeding Behavior
• Feeding Methods (statistics & numerical data)
• Humans
• Infant
• Infant, Newborn
• Intubation, Gastrointestinal (statistics & numerical data)
• Maternal-Child Nursing
• Otitis Media (complications)
• Palatal Obturators (statistics & numerical data)
• Patient Care Team
• Professional-Family Relations
• Scotland
• Socioeconomic Factors
• Surveys and Questionnaires