Dr. Lessen has published her pilot study on the Premature Infant Oral Motor Intervention (PIOMI), which she developed for use on premature infants who are only 29 weeks gestation (approx. 2 pounds). The intervention is a sequencial series of 8 steps that target the tongue, palate, cheeks, and lips to "train the brain" to key a neuromuscular response to touch and pressure within their mouths, thus preparing them for future bottle feeding. The infants who received Lessen's PIOMI learned to completely bottle feed 5 days sooner than controls, and were thus discharged almost 3 days sooner. The PIOMI required no equipment (other than a person's pinky finger) and only 5 minutes to administer. The next clinical trial will include an expansion of the sample size, expanding to multiple sites, and training the parents to implement the PIOMI on their own infants. There are training materials (including video) on how to implement the PIOMI and do reliability testing on the PIOMI available through Dr. Lessen.
Articles
Effect of the Premature Infant Oral Motor Intervention on Feeding Progression and Length of Stay in Preterm Infants, Advances in Neonatal Care (2011)
Purpose: Preterm infants frequently experience oral feeding difficulties due to underdeveloped oral motor skills and...
Presentations
Effect of Oral Stimulation on Feeding Progression in Preterm Infants (2009)
This is a poster presentation of original research conducted to assess the safety and efficacy...
Research abstracts
Effect of Oral Stimulation on Feeding Progression in Preterm Infants (2009)
Published in Advances in Neonatal Care 9(4): 187.
PURPOSE: To assess the safety and efficacy...