title: An investigation into infant feeding in children born with a cleft lip and/or palate in the West of Scotland.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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: Department of Paediatric Dentistry, Glasgow Dental Hospital and School, Scotland. karen.britton@nhs.net
authors: K F M
authors: KF
authors: Britton
authors: S H
authors: SH
authors: McDonald
authors: R R
authors: RR
authors: Welbury
mesh_terms: D001903:Bottle Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000150:complications* / Q000451:nursing; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000150:complications* / Q000451:nursing; D019230:Dental Audit; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005248:Feeding Methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007441:Intubation, Gastrointestinal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016389:Maternal-Child Nursing; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000150:complications; D010158:Palatal Obturators / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D012606:Scotland; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires