Many premature babies are born in the world everyday. In just the United States alone, nearly half a million babies are born prematurely every year. The overall grade that the US has for premature births is a “C”; approximately 450,000 babies are born prematurely each year in the US, which means one in nine babies are born early—this is a higher rate compared to many other first world countries. Many premature babies are born with various health problems, including difficulties in feeding.
Premature babies (babies that are born before 37 weeks) have a hard time sucking or swallowing and breathing simultaneously. Often times these preemies are provided with nutrients through a soft feeding tube that is inserted through the nose or mouth into the stomach. In other cases, with very premature (before 34 weeks gestation) or sick babies, nutrients are provided through a vein. These eating complications can extend a preemie’s stay at the hospital, and the longer it takes for a baby to learn how to feed properly, the more behind he/she is in growth and development compared to full-term babies. A musical pacifier, called the Pacifier Activated Lullaby device (PAL) can help reduce a preemie’s hospital stay by several days (about five days on average).
Image Source: Jennifer Polixenni Brankin
Florida State University professor Jayne Standley, the creator of PAL, specially wired a pacifier with speakers to play lullabies whenever a baby sucks on the pacifier properly. This encourages them to keep sucking on the pacifier to keep the music playing. An additional element that can be added is recordings of the babies’ mothers singing lullabies, further reducing the duration of babies’ hospital stay. Since PAL works by helping babies learn how to suck, this ultimately also helps them learn how to feed. PAL is now available and used in many hospitals in the US.
Growth and development are very important, especially for babies, and even more so for preemies. It’s important that they learn how to feed in order to get the nutrients they need to grow. This simple, yet ingenious and innovative invention has greatly impacted many lives and will continue to do so for generations to come.
Feature Image Source: Premmie by ashton
