How To Ensure Safe Enteral Connections
A neonatal unit is a scary place with numerous premature babies breathing and feeding by means of tubes and other connectors. The health personnel are at their busiest there, trying to provide a new born baby with every care possible. There had been frequent complaints of misconnections in tubing early on that often lead to serious consequences and even death. The instances have come down drastically now thanks to the new regulations about utilizing only safe enteral connections today.
An entirely new brand of connectors going by the name ENFit has made the matter much easier. These connectors do not allow any kind of mishap as they cannot be used for varied purposes anymore. This has brought down the possibility of connecting a feeding tube and IV tubing together thereby saving many lives at one go. However, the process of implementation is still ongoing and may take a long time to be completed. A number of medical equipment suppliers have introduced a transitional connector for effective use meanwhile. This is applicable to all feeding tubes, syringes as well as pump sets up to the time when the entire system can adapt to the usage of ENFit connectors totally.
It is important to take note of the safety precautions while trying to feed a newborn baby as well. True, breast feeding is considered to be the best for a neonate but it may not be possible all the time due to a number of reasons. The solution is to employ breast milk tubes that happens to be a form of lactation aid to keep the infant nourished properly. This is a definite step ahead to help the mother develop a bond with the child via breastfeeding when there is no or an inadequate quantity of milk in the breasts.
Also known as a ‘supplementary nursing system (SNS),’ the tiny infant experiences breastfeeding perfectly by using it thus drawing close to the mother. It is a system that has proved to be more beneficial than using impersonal feeding bottle that does not enable the child to touch the mother.
Advantages of using lactation aids
The process imitates the action of breast feeding
Milk passing through the tube reaches the baby’s lips considerably faster thus causing a preference for being tube fed. This goes a long way in weaning the baby away from the breast and introducing bottle feeding when the time is right.
The quantity is enough to keep the baby satiated. The mother does not have to worry about the infant not latching to the nipples properly and failing to feed anymore.
Once the baby begins to feed well, it signals the mother’s brain to produce more milk. This has a positive effect on increasing the flow of milk to the breast
The negative aspects of bottle fed babies are avoided totally with the baby developing a better shaped palate, competent air passage, proper dentition, and perfect jaw molding.
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