Nursery World - Music therapy can comfort premature babies

Playing live music to a premature baby can slow their heartbeat and help the child breathe more easily, a study has found.

Researchers also found that the sound of instruments or a parent singing can increase sucking behaviours, which can improve feeding, and can have positive effects on a child’s sleeping patterns.

In the research, conducted by Beth Israel Hospital in New York across 11 US hospitals, music therapists worked with the mothers of 272 premature babies aged 32 weeks and under, with respiratory distress syndrome, clinical sepsis and/or were small for gestational age. They had several sessions over two weeks with two instruments, singing or no music. The instruments used were a gato box, which is a wooden drum meant to simulate the sound of a heartbeat, and an ocean disc, a cylinder full of beads supposed to mimic the fluid noises of the womb.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included