Recent gift allows for expansion of feeding program for infants
Babies in the Blanche Swanzy Lange Neonatal Intensive Care Unit( NICU) at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas have an important job: eating. But coordinating sucking, swallowing and breathing is a tough task, especially for babies born prematurely or who have a birth defect. If not diagnosed early, feeding problems can progress and lead to the need for tube feeding, emergency room visits for dehydration or aspiration, or even the development of chronic lung disease.
Fortunately, Baylor’ s NICU is equipped with special diagnostic tools that allow clinicians to diagnose feeding problems while infants are in the NICU. Baylor is one of few places in the world where clinicians are using Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing( FEES) exams on newborns. The procedure involves inserting a tiny fiberoptic scope with a camera into the baby’ s nose while he or she is breastfeeding or bottle-feeding.
Currently, the program is limited to infants who are inpatients in the NICU. But thanks to a recent generous gift from Pauline and Austin Neuhoff, FEES will also be available on an outpatient basis.
“ Previously, moms would have the FEES test done in the hospital and then they would take their baby home. If they had a feeding problem at home, there was no way to bring their baby back to allow us to re-test them,” said Jenny Reynolds, a neonatal speech and language pathologist who helped launch the FEES program at Baylor. Families who need an outpatient feeding study for their infant are often placed on waiting lists for weeks or months at hospitals that do not offer FEES.
When Baylor Dallas’ center is created, it will serve families all over the region. Neonatologists, ENTs, pediatricians or other physicians will be able to refer families to Baylor for the outpatient program. In the first year alone, more than 600 patients will be served, and as clinicians in the region become aware of the program, services are expected to double in subsequent years. In addition to diagnosing feeding problems using the FEES exam, the center will also offer lactation consultations, evaluations with neonatal speech pathologists and occupational therapists. Other components will include free educational classes to parents about feeding, as well as research and continuing education for other clinicians.
“ Additionally, we want to be the first hospital to offer a NICU FEES continuing education course for
Jacob Cermenio participates in the FEES program
6 6