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Magical Melodies

The Benefits of Music for You and Your Preterm Infant

By Tamar Weiss

When Stacey Kent went into labor more than three months before her due date, it was clear that she and her husband would have many challenges ahead of them and a great deal of adjusting to do. Stacey recalls feeling overwhelmed and helpless when she first entered the neonatal intensive care unit. "We saw all the incubators decorated, and we were nervous to surround our babies with additional, artificial things," she says. "We figured we'd just talk to them."

Yet just a few days after their twins were born, Stacey and her husband decided to play recorded music with accompanying womb sounds and soothing nature sounds at their sons' incubators.

Throughout history, parents have been soothing newborn babies with lullaby music and repetitive, calming tones. These days, it is possible to document the health benefits these practices have on newborn and – more specifically – premature babies. "Music is a logical intervention, because it is structured and sequential," says to Jan Schreibman, a music therapist at Methodist Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, Ind. "If a steady, calming rhythm and melody are introduced into an environment, it supports and encourages those in that environment to become steady and calm." Such advantages have been shown to dramatically increase the health of premature babies.

Research in this field, most notably by Dr. Fred Schwartz, suggests that because the premature infant does have a developed sense of sound, and due to his/her loss of the intrauterine environment

Want to see more?

• Your Preemie's First Year
• Decoding Your Preemie's Signals
• Nurturing Your NICU Baby
• Going Home Alone: When Preemies Need to Stay in the NICU
• Close Contact: How Kangaroo Care Can Help Your Preemie

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