Questionnaire Survey on the Feeding Experiences of Mothers who Had Babies with Cleft Palates Ichiro YAMAMOTO Abstract : Mothers who have babies with cleft palates seldom succeed in breast-feeding and feel difficulties feeding even using bottle feeders. This study surveyed feeding experiences, and how mothers managed to feed their babies, in order to offer better assistance in feeding. Orthodontic Department, Yamamoto Dental Clinic, Nishinomiya City
Questionnaire sheets were handed to 200 mothers whose babies attended the author's clinic, and 161 mothers answered. The results were : 1) About 39% of the mothers first saw and held their babies on the day of birth, but about 20% of the mothers did not meet their babies until more than 5 days after birth. 2) About 64% of the mothers had received instructions on feeding methods during pregnancy. After childbirth, 70% of the mothers received instructions on the care of their breasts and bottle feeders, but only 50% of the mothers received instructions on how to hold their babies and the posture of the babies. 3) Information about the Hotz plate was provided to only 16% of the mothers. About 70% of the mothers whose babies wore Hotz plates felt that feeding their babies was easier. 4) Almost all of the mothers wanted to breast-feed directly, but few succeeded. Many mothers wanted to try breast-feeding, if it was technically possible. 5) The most frequent methods of feeding were bottle feeder with milk, bottle feeder with breast milk, breast feeding, N-G tube, and spoon feeding respectively. The mothers' own contrivances for feeding their babies were : 1) feeding posture and methods, 2) various kinds of bottle feeders and teats, and so on. 6) Difficulties concerning feeding their babies were : 1) discharging of milk from nose and/or mouth, 2) taking a longer time to feed, 3) feeling stress when feeding their babies, and so on. 7) About 59% of the mothers had advisers when they felt difficulties feeding their babies, with nurses being the most frequent advisers. Unfortunately about 40% of the mothers had no adviser at all. The mothers felt that the information concerning bottle feeders and feeding methods was useful, and wanted to have more information about how other mothers fed their babies. It was found that mothers who had babies with cleft palates encountered many troubles with feeding and tried many contrivances. In order to improve the feeding methods, much more attention should be paid by the medical staff engaged in cleft palate practice. Key words : cleft lip, cleft palate, feeding, Hotz plate, breast-feeding, N-G nutrient tube
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