Combined Oral Motor Stimulation and Language on Preterm Infant Feeding

The Combined Association of an Oral Motor Stimulation and Language Intervention on Preterm Infant Feeding

This is a randomized controlled trial to study an oromotor stimulation in combination with a reading curriculum in the NICU among preterm infants using oral muscle exercises, Language Environment Analysis (LENA) recordings, linguistic feedback, and a language curriculum to improve the neonatal inpatient oral feeding and language outcomes for preterm infants.

This project aims to determine the effects of an oral motor stimulation combined with a reading curriculum vs an oral motor stimulation alone vs controls among preterm infants born 23-30 weeks gestation in the NICU. We hypothesize that the infants receiving an oral motor stimulation in conjunction with a reading curriculum will start oral feeding at an earlier age, have fewer days to full oral feeding, and fewer days in the NICU compared to infants receiving an oral motor stimulation and controls. We hypothesize that the infants receiving an oral motor stimulation in conjunction with a reading curriculum will have increased infant vocalizations, increased conversational turns, increased adult word counts, decreased maternal stress, decreased degree of post-traumatic stress post-discharge, improved receptive and expressive language development at 12 and 24 months, and improved parent reported behavioral outcomes at 24 months.

Inclusion Criteria:

• 23-30 weeks
• English and Spanish speaking

Exclusion Criteria:

• Major congenital anomalies
• Surgical necrotizing enterocolitis
• Non-English and Non-Spanish speaking