Music therapy is a rapidly gaining acceptance in clinical setting due to its emerging supportive evidence and harmless nature of the therapy. Understanding the effects of sounds (both musical sounds and “noise”) on neonatal development, physiology, and behaviour has made it possible to apply music for therapeutic purposes in neonates. Music therapy has showed positive effects on heart rates, blood pressure, respiratory rates, oxygen saturation, stress-reduction, pain-control, hospital stay, etc. in neonates admitted in NICUs in different studies. In NICUs, masking of ambient noise is also an important effect. Music therapy positively influences neonatal feeding behaviour and weight gain. Recorded instrumental music and vocal music (including mother's voice) is used more commonly, however, live music therapy by qualified music therapists seems to be more promising due to obvious reasons. Mothers’ singing seems to be a convenient, acceptable and cost-effective option. Music therapy to mothers also benefits neonates. This article aims to discuss applications of music therapy in neonatology. Limitations, unanswered questions, and need for further research in Indian settings are also discussed.
American Music Therapy Association. AMTA Member Sourcebook. Silver Spring, MD: American Music Therapy Association, Inc.; 2005.
Winkler I, Haden GP, Ladinig O, Sziller I, Honing H. Newborn infants detect the beat in music. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010; 106: 2468-71.
Haden GP, Stefanics G, Vestergaard MD, Denham SL, Sziller I, et al. Timbre-independent extraction of pitch in newborn infants. Psychophysiol. 2009; 46: 69-71.
Perani D, Saccuman MC, Scifo P, Spada D, Andreolli G, et al. Functional specializations for music processing in the human newborn brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010; 107: 4758-63.
Maroney DI. Recognizing the potential effect of stress and trauma on premature infants in the NICU: How are outcomes affected? J Perinatol. 2003; 23: 679-83.
Wachman EM, Lahav A. The effects of noise on preterm infants in the NICU. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2011; 96: F305-9.
Gitto E, Pellegrino S, Manfrida M, Aversa S, Trimarchi G, et al. Stress response and procedural pain in the preterm newborn: the role of pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments. Eur J Pediatr. 2012; 171: 927-33.
Da Silva CM, Cacao JMR, Silva KCS, Marques CF, Merey LSF. Physiological responses of preterm newborn infants submitted to classical music therapy. Rev Paul Pediatr. 2013; 31: 30-6.
Loewy J, Stewart K, Dassler AM, Telsey A, Homel P. The effects of music therapy on vital signs, feeding, and sleep in premature infants. Pediatrics. 2013; 131: 902-18.
Tramo MJ, Lense M, Ness CV, Kagan J, Settle MD, et al. Effects of music on physiological and behavioral indices of acute pain and stress in premature infants: Clinical trial and literature review. Music Med. 2011; 3: 72-83.
Coleman JM, Pratt RR, Stoddar RA, Gerstmann DR, Abel H. The effects of male and female singing and speaking voices on selected physiological and behavioral measures of premature infants in the intensive care unit. Int J Arts Med. 1998; 5: 4-11.
Cassidy JW. The effect of decibel level of music stimuli and gender on head circumference and physiological responses of premature infants in the NICU. J Music Ther. 2009; 46: 180-90.
Calabro J, Wolfe R, Shoemark H. The effects of recorded sedative music on the physiology and behaviour or premature infants with a respiratory disorder. Aus J Music Ther. 2003; 14: 3-19.
Allen KA. Music Therapy in the NICU: Is there Evidence to support Integration for Procedural Support? Adv Neonatal Care. 2013;13:349-52.
Keith DR, Russell K, Weaver BS. The effects of music listening on inconsolable crying in premature infants. J Music Ther. 2009; 46: 191-203.
Standley J. Music therapy research in the NICU: an updated meta-analysis. Neonatal Netw. 2012; 31: 311-6.
Caine J. The effect of music on the selected stress behaviors, weight, caloric and formula intake, and length of hospital stay of premature and low birth weight neonates in a newborn intensive care unit. J Music Ther. 1991; 28: 180-92.
Butt ML, Kisilevsky BS. Music modulates behaviour of premature infants following heel lance. Can J Nurs Res. 2000;31:17-39.
Arnon S, Shapsa A, Forman L, Regev R, Bauer S, et al. Live music is beneficial to preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit environment. Birth. 2006; 33: 131-36.
Matook SA, Sullivan MC, Salisbury A, Miller RJ, Lester BM. Variations of NICU sound by location and time of day. Neonatal Netw. 2010; 29: 87-95.
Goff DM. The effects of nonnutritive sucking on state regulation in preterm infants. Dissertation Abstracts International. 1985; 46: 2835.
Standley JM. The effect of contingent music to increase non-nutritive sucking of premature neonates. Pediatr Nurs. 2000;26:493-5, 498-9.
Standley JM. The effect of music and multimodal stimulation on responses of premature infants in neonatal intensive care. Pediatr Nurs. 1998; 24: 532-8.
Lubetzky R, Mimouni FB, Dollberg S, Reifen R, Ashbel G, et al. Effect of music by mozart on energy expenditure in growing preterm infants. Pediatrics. 2010; 125: e24-8.
Krueger C. Exposure to maternal voice in preterm infants: A review. Adv Neonatal Care. 2010; 10: 13-20.
Segall M. Cardiac responsivity to auditory stimulation in premature infants. Nurs Res. 1972; 21: 15-9.
Vianna MNS, Barbosa AP, Carvalhaes AS, Cunha AJLA. Music therapy may increase breastfeeding rates among mothers of premature newborns: a randomized controlled trial. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2011;87:206-12.
Jayamala AK, Preethi BL, Pradeep GCM, Jaisri G. Impact of music therapy on breast milk secretion in mothers of premature newborns. J Clin Diag Res. 2015; 9: CC04-6.
Hepper PG. Fetal memory: Does it exist? What does it do? Acta Paediatr Suppl. 1996;416:16-20..
Tabarro CS, de Campos LB, Galli NO, Novo NF, Pereira VM. Effect of the music in labor and newborn. Rev Esc Enferm USP. 2010;44:445-52.
Arya R, Chansoria M, Konanki R, Tiwari DK. Maternal music exposure during pregnancy influences neonatal behaviour: An open-label randomized controlled trial. Int J Pediatr. 2012; 2012: 901812.
