Introduction:

Stimulation of non-nutritive suction has been shown to influence the maturation process of nutritive suction.

Objective:

Analyze the effect of maturation on the suction pattern, mediated by the time of experience.

Methods:

Sample consisting of 34 newborns with an average gestational age of 33.2 weeks and an average experience time of 14.7 days. We used the suction pattern as a moderation model. The dependent variable is the average number of sucks, and the independent variables considered are gestational age (maturation) and length of experience (moderator).

Results:

A positive relationship between experience and suction pattern was found, variable with time of practice and more evident after 32 weeks of gestational age.

Conclusion:

The statistical evidence found has clinical relevance in the design of intervention programs to stimulate the sucking of premature newborns, and is of interest to health professionals with intervention in the field.

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