Gastrointestinal Disorders of the Premature Infant

The incidence and edge of viability for premature infants continues to increase with advances in maternal/fetal medicine, neonatology, and pediatric pulmonary care. These infants present with unique sequala of their prematurity that can impact motor, sensory, and oral feeding developmental skills. Ongoing support, assessment, and treatment interventions reduce the risk of severe developmental delays but require an understanding of NICU care practices and careful assessment of the infant’s skill performance to mitigate atypical movement patterns. During this course participants will learn about the gastrointestinal co-morbidities of prematurity including necrotizing enterocolitis. Participants will review the medical pathology and education on assessment/treatment interventions to reduce atypical sensory/motor skills that impact long-term developmental skill attainment. This course will be focused on skill development for infants term corrected (37 weeks) to 3 months (corrected or chronological age). Participants are asked to bring a soft body doll, ideally 12-15″ long, but any size would be appropriate.

Following this training, participants will be able to:

1. Identify musculoskeletal alignment changes due to gastrointestinal co-morbidities of prematurity and these effects on oral feeding/motor development for the infant.
2. Apply two treatment interventions for oral feeding, postural control, and GI facilitation with the provided case study

Note: This course meets the requirement for Professional Development hours towards your ASHA renewal since it is approved by TSHA! You can count these hours towards ASHA renewal when you submit your Compliance Form.

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