Published Paper Details:

Background: An estimated 15 million babies are born too early every year. Approximately 1 million children die each year due to complications of preterm birth. Premature infants, especially Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) infants (<1500 g), are a group at high risk of infectious diseases in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). Methods and materials: A true experimental research was done among the 100 preterm neonates (32-36 weeks) in NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) & RNB (Referral Newborn), RMMCH at Chidambaram from November 2021 to October 2022. Colostrum swabbing was done for the experimental group and routine nutritional care was given to the control group. Pre test and post test assessments of feeding problems with its changes using LATCH scale were done for both the groups in related to the intervention. Results: There was a significant difference found between experimental and control groups in feeding problems (p<0.001). Conclusion: Colostrum may be an ideal "first immune stimulator" for premature infants; and indeed premature human colostrum has higher concentration of proteins, cytokines, and secretory immune globulins compared with term colostrum by which the immunologic factor in Oral Colostrum administration may stimulate and protect the immature neonatal immune system.