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. 2025 Feb 7;51(1):38.
doi: 10.1186/s13052-025-01867-2.

Determination of oral feeding skills in late preterm, early term, and full-term infants using the neonatal oral feeding monitor (NeoSAFE)

Ayse Ecevit  1 , Balkar Erdogan  2 , Deniz Anuk Ince  1 , Meltem Aksu  1 , Sezin Unal  3 , Özden Turan  1 , Ahmet Saracoglu  2 , Aylin Tarcan  2
Affiliations

Determination of oral feeding skills in late preterm, early term, and full-term infants using the neonatal oral feeding monitor (NeoSAFE)

Ayse Ecevit et al. Ital J Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: Mature oral feeding is a complex function involving numerous muscles and nerves, typically developing between the postmenstrual age of 34-36 weeks in newborn infants. The objective of this study was to analyze the oral feeding skills of healthy late preterm, early term, and full-term infants using a neonatal oral feeding monitor.

Methods: We used the oral feeding parameters reported by NeoSAFE which is a certified medical device, to assess the swallowing and swallow-respiration coordination in newborn infants. Oral feeding parameters were recorded over a 2-minutes long bottle-feeding session. The total swallow count, swallow time, maximum rhythmic swallows, resting interval duration, time between rhythmic swallows and inspiration after swallow count were recorded by NeoSAFE. We planned to examine the relationship of oral feeding parameters according to the gestational age. We also investigated whether the coordination of swallowing and respiration changes with respect to gestational age in newborn infants.

Results: A total of 88 infants were included; 34 late preterm, 34 early term, and 20 full term. The gestational age was found to have significant negative correlation with the average time between rhythmic swallows and positive correlation with the swallow time. Feeding volume was found to have a negative correlation with the resting interval duration and average time between rhythmic swallows. It was also found that the feeding volume has a positive correlation with total swallow count, swallow time, maximum rhythmic swallow and inspirium after swallow count.

Conclusion: Although the oral feeding skills of infants at 34 weeks gestation are still developing, this study identified differences in oral feeding skills among late preterm, early term, and full-term infants when assessed using a neonatal swallow and respiration detection system. However, conducting larger cohort studies using NeoSAFE would be beneficial for guiding oral feeding approaches in infants.

Trial registration: Not applicable.

Keywords: Deglutition; Deglutition disorders; NeoSAFE; Newborn feeding assessment; Newborn infants; Oral feeding skills; Preterm; Swallow detection; Swallow respiration coordination assessment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Ethics Committee at Baskent University (Project number: KA23/183) and a written consent was obtained from a parent of each newborn infant. A statement to confirm that all methods were performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Consent for publication: Written informed consent for publication was obtained. Informed consent: A written consent was obtained from a parent of each newborn infant. Competing interests: AE works at Baskent University, is a founding member of KuartisMED and serves on the advisory board of KuartisMED. BE is working at KuartisMED. AS is a founding member of KuartisMED, AT is a founding member of KuartisMED and serves on the advisory board of KuartisMED. Other authors have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a. Recording was taken with infant positioned at a 30-degree supine angle in the mother’s lap. The swallow and respiration traces are shown on the display indicating the instances of swallows (upper trace) and inspirations (lower trace). b. The sites of the probes on the newborn. The swallow probe is situated under the chin and the respiration probe is attached on the subject’s right abdomen
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Swallow sound (top) and respiration (bottom) signals displayed on NeoSAFE oral feeding monitor during the feeding session. The swallow instants are marked by green rectangles on the sound signal and the inspirium instants are marked by blue rectangles on the respiration trace
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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