Speaker Type: GOLD Learning Day 2020, Advancing Human Milk & Breastfeeding Practices in the NICU Lecture Pack 2022, GOLD Neonatal 2023
Country: USA
Biography:
Amber Valentine is a Speech-Language Pathologist who graduated from the University of Kentucky with her MS in Communication Disorders. She is a Board Certified Specialist in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, as well as a Certified Neonatal Therapist (CNT). She worked for Baptist Health Systems, Inc for 8 years before moving to Florida where she worked for Wolfsons Children’s Hospital and Mayo Florida. She is now back in Kentucky working for Baptist Health Lexington. She has experience in adults and pediatrics with feeding and swallowing difficulties including: bedside swallow evaluations, Modified Barium Swallow studies, FEES, and pediatric feeding evaluations including NICU. She has experience with head and neck cancer patient including evaluation and treatment of swallowing difficulties, PMV use, and voice after total laryngectomy including TEP. She has provided guest lectures for the University of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, and the University of Louisville on feeding and swallowing topics. She has presented at the hospital, local, state, national, and international levels on pediatric feeding/swallowing and breastfeeding.
This presentation is designed to discuss the role of feeding therapy, breastfeeding, and family dynamics with infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome. These baby/family dynamics can be complex situations and feeding difficulties are extremely common. Breastfeeding education/information can be implemented prior to birth along with other education for families to promote more infant/family bonding and reduce stress of being born in substance exposure. Breastfeeding dramatically reduces stress signs in infants exposed to substances neonatally. Working together as an interdisciplinary team, we can set these families up for more successful feeding opportunities and decreased stress in developmental care.
Feeding is the most complex task of infancy, even in term babies with no complications. There are many diagnoses, conditions, syndromes, and co-morbidities that can impact feeding in neonates and infants. This talk will briefly highlight many of those, but we will focus on three specific populations of interest –Cleft lip and palate, Infants of Diabetic Mothers, and Down Syndrome. We will discuss the specific implications these conditions can have on feeding, why these infants may have difficulty, and the classic symptoms one could expect to see. The differences between delayed and disordered feeding will also be addressed. Strategies and adaptions for both breast and bottle feeding will be discussed. Positioning, nipple flow rate, and external strategies will be explained. Case studies will be shared at the end of the presentation.
While providing breastmilk for all infants, especially neonates is considered Gold Standard for feeding, providing breastmilk in the NICU can present with a multitude of challenges. Whether the facility is short staffed, the family dynamics prevent parents from being present, or milk supply issues abound, breastfeeding and providing breastmilk can create many difficulties for NICU infants and their families. During this presentation, we will discuss building successful breastfeeding programs in the NICU, multiple challenges that parents face in milk production, neonatal state and it's impacts on breastmilk implementation, as well as NICU politics and their correlation with a successful breastmilk agenda.
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