Development of diet sheets for infants with CHD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Growth and nutrition of infants with congenital heart disease: development of parent information
IRAS ID
230155
Contact name
Luise V Marino
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Hospital Southampton Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 0 days
Research summary
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth problems in infants, found in 9 out of every 1,000 babies born. Some heart problems are serious needing two or more operations, which can be months apart. For lots of different reasons feeding problems and poor weight gain is common. At Southampton, we have shown babies with CHD who do not gain weight well before their operation have a longer stay in hospital and problems after surgery making parents worry.
Most babies with heart problems should see a dietitian who will give individual feeding advice and follow up, helping babies gain weight and overcoming feeding problems. Unfortunately, many babies do not get to see a dietitian before their operation. As a result, parents often do not receive enough written dietary information or support with feeding problems and weight gain. This lack of support can be very stressful for parents, and increase their worry about their child.From our public patient involvement work we heard from parents there is insufficient parental information on nutrition and as feeding and growth is such a significant issue parents would welcome more information that is relevant to the nutrition needs of infants with CHD. As such the aim of this study is to develop diet sheets and guideline for parents of infants with CHD. This study has been co-designed with parents for parents, to ensure the content of the dietary information is useful and accessible for parents to use.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NW/0490
Date of REC Opinion
25 Aug 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion