* Corresponding author: Brenda Lessen Knoll, School of Nursing, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL, USA. Tel: 13095563279; Email: blessen@iwu.edu Please cite this paper as: Mahmoodi N, Lessen Knoll B, Keykha R, Jalalodini A, Ghaljaei F. The Effect of Oral Motor Intervention on Oral Feeding Readiness and Feeding Progression in Preterm Infants. Iranian Journal of Neonatology. 2019 Sep: 10(3). DOI: 10.22038/ijn.2019.34620.1515 Original Article Open Access The Effect of Oral Motor Intervention on Oral Feeding Readiness and Feeding Progression in Preterm Infants Nasrin Mahmoodi 1 , Brenda Lessen Knoll 2* , Roghaieh Keykha 1 , Alia Jalalodini 1 , Fershteh Ghaljaei 1 1. Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Community Nursing Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran 2. School of Nursing, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL, USA ABSTRACT Background: Advances in neonatal intensive care have markedly improved survival in preterm infants. These babies need hospitalization due to the immaturity of the respiratory and digestive systems. The timing for the initiation of proper feeding in premature infants admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) is an important challenge for physicians, parents, and nurses. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of oral motor intervention (OMI) on the early onset of oral feeding in preterm infants. Methods: This clinical trial was carried out on 40 premature infants who were admitted to the NICU of Ali-ibn Abi Talib Hospital, Zahedan, Iran, in 2012 with the gestational age of 28-32 weeks. The subjects were randomly allocated to two equal groups of intervention and control. In the intervention group, 5-minute oral stimulations were performed based on premature infant OMI (PIOMI) by the researcher on a daily basis 15 minutes before gavage for seven days. On the other hand, the control group received routine care. Then, the groups were compared using the premature oral feeding readiness assessment scale in terms of timing, initiation of oral feeding, and hospitalization duration. Results: The intervention group achieved independent feeding significantly earlier than the control group (P=0.034). In addition, the duration of hospitalization was shorter in the intervention group, compared to that of the control group (P=0.027). Conclusion: The utilization of PIOMI method to stimulate oral movements is beneficial in the early onset of oral feeding and reduces the duration of hospitalization. Therefore, this method can be effective in treating premature infants and reducing treatment costs. Keywords: Feeding behavior, Non-nutritive sucking, Oral feeding, Oral massage, Oral stimulation, Preterm infant Introduction The leading causes of neonatal mortality are low birth weight due to prematurity, intrauterine growth retardation, or multiple gestations (1). The global preterm birth rate continues to rise, and a reduction in their mortality is an indication of the improvements in health care services (2). During the past 10 years, the survival rate of newborns with very low birth weight hrough pre- and postnatal care has increased exponentially, and one of the final requirements in their care prior to discharge is successful initiation of oral feeding (3). Since the digestive, respiratory, and central nervous systems of preterm infants are under- developed, they need to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for a few days to several months to learn how to coordinate sucking, swallowing, and breathing to attain safe and effective oral feedings (4). Feeding behaviors are developed before birth. At week 11, the fetus starts jaw movements followed by swallowing and sucking at week 13. The breathing, sucking, and swallowing patterns become more complete with an increase in fetal age until week 34. Therefore, infants with higher gestational age will have better sucking skills. The feeding problems of infants born before 37 weeks of gestation include hypotonia, weakness, and lack of coordination in movements, poor consciousness, irritability,