Hungry for help, these babies get nourishing care

For many premature babies, learning how to feed is one of life’s earliest and most vexing challenges. It requires sucking, swallowing and breathing almost at the same time, and that’s a lot to fathom when you’re not even really supposed to be here yet.

In fact, premature babies who can’t grasp the concept of feeding often have to be transported to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Yale New Haven Hospital, where speech-language pathologists (SLPs) help babies grasp this vital skill.

Now, however, babies in L+M Hospital’s NICU are staying local thanks to an SLP who said she always dreamed her job would include therapy for NICU babies. At least twice a week, Kelsey Murphy, SLP, can be found in the L+M NICU, consulting with families and nurses, finding out which babies need help, then spending time with infants who are struggling to feed.

The program officially launched in June, and with more therapists expected to join Murphy in the near future, it’s expected to expand to more days.

“Speech therapists have a little mantra that goes ‘Fed is fed is fed,’ which means we’re going to work with that baby whether they’re getting their nutrition by a feeding tube, bottle or breast,” Murphy said. “Some babies are doing all three of these things.”

It’s highly complicated for a baby to coordinate sucking, swallowing and breathing all with the same mouth and throat system, so one of the first things the SLP focuses on is just sucking. The SLP ensures the baby has a pacifier then slowly integrates some tastes, dipping the pacifier in a drop of breast milk or formula so they’re not flooded with a lot of volume.

“This helps them figure things out so they can get to the point where they can take more volume,” Murphy said.

Murphy can also help families find a bottle that best meets the baby’s needs.

“There are so many on the market and they’re all a little different. The choices can be overwhelming for any parent, but especially parents who are already experiencing the stress that comes with having a baby in the NICU,” Murphy said. “Supporting parents early in the feeding process can help them feel prepared for discharge when they’ll feed their baby at home.”

Kristen Fulton, RN, L+M NICU nurse manager, said the unit’s patient population often includes babies going through substance withdrawal, who have some difficult feeding issues.

“This is definitely a significant need for us, so having Kelsey two mornings a week is really helping our staff, our families and our babies.”

Murphy praised the NICU nurses. “The staff has just been incredible,” she said. “They are so strong in their nursing skills and their feeding skills, so it has been a pleasure to be part of their team.”