This process, once the infant no longer needs a ventilator, can take 2 weeks to 2 months. Many mothers seek to feed their infants breast milk. This is to be encouraged. However, with the uncertainty of the surgery and the time it takes for the feedings to be worked out, this may become frustrating. If breast-feeding does not work it is not a failure.
Infant formulas are excellent and yield growing thriving children.
At the time of discharge, it is the rare child that needs continued respiratory support. After discharge the infants are followed by a pediatric gastroenterologist for their reflux and by a pediatric pulmonologist for their lung development. Additional surgery for recurrent hernia and gastro-esophageal reflux is unusual. Those infants surviving without ECMO have rare neurologic consequences. The grim mortality rates often quoted in some textbooks and some medical literature are simply not correct.