{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T12:15:16Z","timestamp":1785413716610,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"AOSIS","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,25]],"date-time":"2025-11-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764028800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background:\u00a0Premature birth is associated with many medical conditions including feeding and swallowing difficulties. Despite the existing knowledge on caregivers\u2019 experiences, there is a dearth of literature that has explored experiences of caregivers whose infants have feeding difficulties in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in South Africa.\nObjectives:\u00a0This study explored experiences of caregivers of premature infants diagnosed with feeding difficulties in the NICU within the South African context.\nMethod:\u00a0This study was conducted using an explorative qualitative design. Data were collected using an anonymous qualitative survey distributed through caregiver social media support groups. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 9 participants. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.\nResults:\u00a0Three main themes emerged, namely: (1) Emotional distress associated with infants\u2019 feeding and swallowing difficulties and prematurity, (2) infants\u2019 inability to feed orally and NICU restrictions: barriers to caregiver-infant attachment and bonding, and (3) caregiver informational needs regarding oral feeding and general child care.\nConclusion:\u00a0This study indicates the need for holistic family-centred healthcare practices within the NICU. Therefore, in addition to providing oral-sensorimotor intervention to infants with feeding and\/or swallowing difficulties, speech-language therapists (SLTs) need to ensure that caregiver needs and concerns related to their child are addressed. Moreover, SLT interventions need to consider caregiver-infant attachment and bonding strategies in the absence of oral feeding.\nContribution:\u00a0This study highlights the need for family-centred care practices within the NICU, which considers informational needs, inclusion in oral-sensorimotor intervention, and the psychosocial needs of caregivers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/sajcd.v72i2.1119","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,24]],"date-time":"2025-11-24T09:00:52Z","timestamp":1763974852000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Feeding and swallowing difficulties in previously hospitalised premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit: Perspectives from South African caregivers"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"72","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5873-7633","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cynthia","family":"Sawasawa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03rp50x72","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Witwatersrand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-1916-2236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lavanya","family":"Naidoo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03rp50x72","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Witwatersrand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-5184-4348","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Salma","family":"Sheik Hoosen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03rp50x72","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Witwatersrand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ba\u00eda, I., Amorim, M., Silva, S., Kelly-Irving, M., De Freitas, C., & Alves, E. 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