ArticleBMJ paediatrics open2026
Early neonatal admissions with feeding difficulties to acute paediatric services at a tertiary paediatric hospital in England: sequential audits pre-COVID-19 and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in BMJ paediatrics open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
introductionOur objective was to describe the population of infants <7 days of age admitted to the acute general paediatric services at Alder Hey Children's Hospital and ascertain the proportion with feeding difficulties amenable to community-based support.
methodsSequential retrospective audits of all infants <7 days of age admitted to acute paediatrics at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool, England, from March to September 2019 (pre-COVID-19) and March to September 2020 (during COVID-19). All the infants were born and discharged from maternity units in Merseyside, Northwest England. Anonymised data were extracted from the electronic clinical records by three members of the clinical team.
resultsPre-COVID-19, 38.6% (93) of the 241 admissions to acute general paediatric services had feeding difficulties. 31.2% (29) presented solely with feeding difficulties and 31.2% (29) were exclusively breastfed. However, during COVID-19, although there were fewer admissions (104), more than half (51%, 54) had feeding difficulties and for 54% (29), this was the only reason for admission. Over half (53.7%, 29) were exclusively breastfed.
conclusionOur audits showed that at least a third of infants <7 days of age admitted with feeding difficulties did not have any other features of severe illness. These admissions unnecessarily expose infants to hospital-acquired infections while disrupting the opportunity for families to build close and loving relationships that enhance the establishment of breastfeeding. Co-designing infant feeding strategies with the mothers and stakeholders will be a crucial next step to enhance infant feeding support, particularly in impoverished communities in the region.
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