Objective To investigate the effect of bird’s nest prone position combined with non-nutritive sucking（NNS） on the gastrointestinal function and growth of preterm infants. Methods One hundred and fifty preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital in Chongqing from January to December 2019 were selected for the study. The subjects were divided into 3 groups using the random number table method

with 50 cases in each group. The preterm infants in the control group were given routine preterm care

those in the NNS group were given NNS intervention on the basis of routine care

and the subjects in the combined group were given bird’s nest prone position care on the basis of NNS group care. The daily milk intake

Preterm Infant Oral Feeding Readiness Assessment（PIOFRA） and Neonatal Oral-Motor Assessment Scale（NOMAS） scores were compared among the three groups on days 1

5 and 10 of the intervention. Results The daily milk intake of preterm infants in the combined group was higher than that in the NNS and control groups on both day 5 and day 10 of the intervention

with statistically significant differences（P<0.05）. The PIOFRA and NOMAS scores of preterm infants in the combined group were higher than those in the NNS and control groups on both day 5 and day 10 of the intervention

and the differences were statistically significant（P<0.05）. The feeding intolerance rate of preterm infants in the combined group was 4.0%

which was lower than that in the NNS group（16.0%） and the control group（26.0%）

and the differences were statistically significant（P<0.05）. The average daily growth rate of body mass

average weekly growth rate of body length

and average weekly growth rate of head circumference were significantly higher in the combined group than in the NNS and control groups

and the differences were all statistically significant（P <0.05）. Conclusion Bird’s nest prone position combined with NNS intervention can improve the sucking and swallowing ability of preterm infants

promote the maturation of their digestive tract function and growth of preterm infants

improving the quality of life of preterm infants. Therefore

it is worthy of wider clinical application.