Sharp D. A systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to promote the initiation of breastfeeding. Health Technol Assess 2000;4(25). Health Technology Assessment is indexed in Index Medicus/MEDLINE and Excerpta Medica/ EMBASE. Copies of the Executive Summaries are available from the NCCHTA website (see overleaf). NHS R&D HTA Programme T he overall aim of the NHS R&D Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme is to ensure that high-quality research information on the costs, effectiveness and broader impact of health technologies is produced in the most efficient way for those who use, manage and work in the NHS. Research is undertaken in those areas where the evidence will lead to the greatest benefits to patients, either through improved patient outcomes or the most efficient use of NHS resources. The Standing Group on Health Technology advises on national priorities for health technology assessment. Six advisory panels assist the Standing Group in identifying and prioritising projects. These priorities are then considered by the HTA Commissioning Board supported by the National Coordinating Centre for HTA (NCCHTA). This report is one of a series covering acute care, diagnostics and imaging, methodology, pharmaceuticals, population screening, and primary and community care. It was identified as a priority by the Primary and Community Care Panel and funded as project number 96/47/01. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Standing Group, the Commissioning Board, the Panel members or the Department of Health. The editors wish to emphasise that funding and publication of this research by the NHS should not be taken as implicit support for the recommendations for policy contained herein. In particular, policy options in the area of screening will be considered by the National Screening Committee. This Committee, chaired by the Chief Medical Officer, will take into account the views expressed here, further available evidence and other relevant considerations. Reviews in Health Technology Assessment are termed 'systematic' when the account of the search, appraisal and synthesis methods (to minimise biases and random errors) would, in theory, permit the replication of the review by others. Criteria for inclusion in the HTA monograph series Reports are published in the HTA monograph series if (1) they have resulted from work either prioritised by the Standing Group on Health Technology, or otherwise commissioned for the HTA programme, and (2) they are of a sufficiently high scientific quality as assessed by the referees and editors.

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SUMMARY Fourteen newborn babies of different gestational ages (33 to 40 weeks) but similar postnatal age (four to 19 days) were studied during bottle‐feeding using real‐time ultrasonography, combined with respiratory monitoring. Previously undescribed tongue movements and graded changes in the temporal relationships between tongue movements, swallowing and breathing were observed among infants of differing maturity. These were most marked in the least mature infants, but were occasionally seen in term infants. The results suggest that adequate neuromuscular co‐ordination is more a function of gestational maturity than of postnatal sucking experience. The pattern of intraoral events for infants of differing maturity described in this study provides a framework for the study of feeding problems of term and preterm infants. RÉSUMÉ Développement de la coordination, de la succion, de la déglutition et de la respiration chez les nourrissons nés à terme et chez les prématurés Quatorze nouveaux‐nés d'âges differents de gestation (33 à 40 semaines) mais d'âges post‐nataux semblables (quatre à 19 jours) on*** été étudiés durant l'alimentation au biberon en utilisant une échographie en temps reel combinée avec un contrôle respiratoire. Des mouvements de langue non décrits antérieurement et des modifications graduées dans les relations temporelles entre les mouvements de langue, la déglutition et la respiration ont été observés chez les nourrissons de differentes maturités. Ils étaient au plus élevé chez les moins matures des enfants étudiés mais observés occasionnellement chez les nourrissons à terme. Les résultats suggèrent que la coordination neuro‐musculaire adéquate est plus une fonction de la maturité de gestation que de l'expérience post‐natale de succion. La distribution des évènements intra‐oraux pour les nourrissons de differentes maturités décrites dans cette étude fournit une base de travail pour l'étude des problèmes d'alimentation chez les nourrissons à terme et prématurés. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Koordinationsentwicklung von Saugen, Schlucken und Atmen bei reif‐ und frühgeborenen Kindern Bei 14 Neugeborenen mit verschiedenem Gestationsalter (33 bis 40 Wochen), aber etwa gleichem Lebensalter (vier bis 19 Tage) wurden während der Flaschenfütterung Real‐Zeit Ultraschalluntersuchungen mit gleichzeitigen Aufzeichnungen der Atmung durchgeführt. Es wurden bisher nicht beschriebene Zungenbewegungen und abgestufte Veränderungen in der zeitlichen Relation zwischen Zungenbewegungen, Schlucken und Atmen bei Kindern mit unterschiedlichem Reifegrad festgestellt. Diese waren bei den unreifsten Kindern am ausgeprägtesten, wurden aber auch bei einigen reifen Kindern beobachtet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daβ eine richtige neuromuskuläre Koordination eher eine Funktion der Gestationsreife als der postnatalen Saugerfahrung ist. Die Muster intra‐oraler Abläufe bei Kindern unterschiedlicher Reife, die in dieser Studie beschrieben werden, bilden die Basis für Untersuchungen von Fütterungsproblemen bei reif‐ und frühgeborenen Kindern. RESUMEN D...