Early neonatal admissions with feeding difficulties to acute paediatric services at a tertiary paediatric hospital in England: sequential audits pre-COVID-19 and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our audits showed that at least a third of infants <7 days of age admitted with feeding difficulties did not have any other features of severe illness. These admissions unnecessarily expose infants to hospital-acquired infections while disrupting the opportunity for families to build close and loving relationships that enhance the establishment of breastfeeding. Co-designing infant feeding strategies with the mothers and stakeholders will be a crucial next step to enhance infant feeding support, particularly in impoverished communities in the region.