Safety and Parental Satisfaction With Early Discharge of Preterm Infants on Nasogastric Tube Feeding and Outpatient Clinic Follow-Up.

To evaluate our early discharge program of preterm infants with nasogastric tube feeding (NTF) and close outpatient clinic follow-up with regard to safety, parent satisfaction and parental stress level. 119 preterm infants were discharged on NTF from our tertiary care neonatal unit (median gestational age 31.0 weeks, median birthweight 1,650 g). Parental satisfaction was evaluated by a standardized questionnaire. For safety assessment growth until term equivalent age and re-hospitalizations within 2 months after discharge were evaluated. Infants were discharged home at a median gestational age of 35.4 weeks after a median hospital stay of 22 days. Follow up was attained in 95 of 104 parent-infant dyads. The majority of parents (94%) reported that they had made the right decision in taking their infant home on NTF. At the time of discharge 86% of parents felt very well-prepared to perform NTF. 70% Of parents rated their stress level at home as low (≤2 out of 5). There were no NTF associated readmissions and no growth faltering until term equivalent age. Early discharge of preterm infants with NTF together with outpatient clinic follow-up is very well-accepted by parents and appears to be safe.