ASHA Learning Pass

Infants born with congenital heart defects (CHD) experience unique pre- and post-surgical complications that impact their ability to develop skills to successfully feed orally. This session reviews the disruptions to oral feeding development in infants with CHD and offers strategies to help infants thrive in their feeding skills after surgery. The session addresses the instrumental role the SLP plays on the multidisciplinary team by facilitating oral feeding development after surgery and hospital discharge. This session is intended for advanced clinicians who work with this special population.

This course is a recorded session from the 2023 ASHA online conference Rethinking Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing.

Related Courses

See more sessions from Rethinking Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• Identify three physiologic differences in cardiac circulation that impact oral feeding development in infants with CHD
• Discuss three consequences of surgery that result in delayed oral feeding development
• Explain how the gastrointestinal and neurological systems are affected after cardiac surgery
• Discuss three strategies for early intervention post-surgery to facilitate oral feeding development in infants with CHD
• Identify two strategies to improve maternal mental health post-infant cardiac surgery

Presenter Information

Hema Desai, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, CLE, NTMTC, is an inpatient speech-language pathologist at CHOC Children’s Hospital, working with infants and children with feeding and swallowing disorders. She has a board certified specialty in swallowing and swallowing disorders, is certified in neonatal touch and massage, and is a clinical lactation educator. She has presented at several ASHA Conventions and California state conferences, as well as co-authored publications in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored a book chapter.

Financial Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• None

Karli Negrin, MS, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist with over 15 years of experience dedicated to the evaluation and treatment of pediatric dysphagia in infants born with congenital heart defects. She is actively involved in multicentered quality improvement initiatives, publishing, and speaking events addressing cardiac infant neuroprotection. Ms. Negrin serves in cardiac infant collaboratives including the Cardiac Newborn Neuroprotective Network, the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative, and National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaboration.

Financial Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• None

Assessment Type

Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.

To earn continuing education credit, you must complete and submit the learning assessment by the end date below.

Program History and CE Information

Online conference dates: March 22–April 3, 2023, November 29–December 11, 2023
End date: September 30, 2029

This course is offered for 0.1 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Professional area).