The use of music therapy in the NICU serves several purposes. Auditory stimulation is any sound that triggers the auditory system (Tagg, 2002). According to Gilad and Arnon (2010), music therapy shortens the stays at hospitals and increases the tolerance for auditory stimulation. Loewy, Stewart, Dassler, Telsey, and Homel (2013) implies that premature infants who participated in music therapy showed modifications in heart rate over time. Keith, Russell, and Weaver (2009) found that when a premature infant was crying, the heart rate decreased in response to auditory stimulation; however, the measure of the heart rate depended on the behavioral state (Katz, 1971). When the premature infants were not crying, the heart rate would increase (Keith et al., 2009). Overall, the findings conclude that premature infants were responsive to auditory stimulation (Katz, 1971; Keith et al., 2009). Research suggests that premature infant responses to auditory stimulation in the NICU have promoted other facilities to use this approach amongst this population
Music therapy stimulates positive changes in other physiological indicators. Research indicates that music therapy increases oxygen saturation levels in premature infants (Loewy et al., 2013). However, Johnston, Filion, and Nuyt (2007) reported a decrease in oxygen saturation levels when exposed to a recording of their mother’s voice during painful procedures for premature infants. The researchers concluded that the comforting voice of the mother was not able to influence the premature infants levels of oxygen saturation, although Lowey et al. (2013) were able to increase oxygen saturation with music. Thus, it is suggested that the NICU should offer music therapy to premature infants under developmental care.
Findings from several researchers indicate that music therapy helps advance developmental responses amongst premature infants in NICU. According to Standley et al. (2010), acquiring the ability to suck is the most crucial behavior for the survival and development of premature infants. When premature infants demonstrate poor oral feeding abilities, their heart rate increases, oxygen saturation levels decrease, and they lose weight.
Ensuring that premature infants are involved in sucking movements during their primary weeks will increase survival rate and good health in the NICU (Yildiz & Arikan, 2011). However, Walworth (2009) believes that involving parents to create an environment in which music is prevalent will impact the development of premature infants as well. Parents who attended music groups with their premature infants demonstrated positive responses to oral feedings when compared to the parents who did not participate.
Lee H., the effect of infant massage on weight gain, physiological and behavioral responses in premature infants, J Korean Acad nursing, 2005; 35(8), 1451-1460.
The Tympo and Rhythm of the instruments is not just a way for the children express themselves, it even stops reminding them of when they were in the womb. The British Colombia MTA states that the tympo and Rhythm gets the child to progress from the rocking motion when they were in the womb and as a baby. It gives them a new independent feel (M-6). As music therapy is one of the cutting edge therapies according to Ken Siri and Tony Lyons, this helps develop motor skills for the child to interact with the instruments (A-2).
Music therapy not only works on adults in the workplace but also on premature babies, infants, and children as well.
...e to communicate with the people that have supported her throughout the whole process and others that she will meet in years to come. She is happy, intelligent, and is open to new foods and learning new things at an accelerating rate. Nicholas used to be antisocial and quiet around the other kids at his daycare. However, now has the confidence to make friends at daycare, interact with them, play with them and have the courage ride his new tricycle. His parents describe him as a “speed demon.” Music has helped him improve on skills he was lagging and has essentially built up his self-esteem. He has improved overall and completely changed. Music is extremely beneficial since it has helped expand therapeutic purposes for autistic patients like Ashley and Nicholas, but others that have been through severe trauma, a heart attack and patients suffering from cancer too.
Phaneuf, M. (2014). Music as a nursing intervention, not as crazy as it sounds. Retrieved from:
“I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music” (Billy Joel). Although most listeners may not have the same technical experience in music as Billy Joel, it is easy enough to see the effect it has in a person's every day life. Music has the ability to pick us up when we are down, carry you back in time to a cherished memory, and transform silence into a symphony that can move one to tears. Music therapy is simply an application of the life that music creates.
In the article “Developments in music therapy practice: case study perspectives”, Meadows talks about how music plays an influential role in a child’s development, such as moment, language, thoughts, feeling development, and connection to others. The first years of a child’s life are crucial since it’s when the most change is occurring. Music is naturally absorbed with children leading to immediate engagement, thus promoting and expanding development (Meadows,
..., L. L., Groer, M. W., & Younger, M. S. (2003). The behavioral effects of gentle human touch on preterm infants. Nursing Science Quarterly, 16(1), p60-67. Retrieved from http://www.capellauniversity.edu/library/12593316
Music is everywhere we go; we listen to it in the car, while doing work, and there are even people who pay to listen or watch an artist perform live. Yes, life goes on without music, but music has such an impact on our lives. Life is a rollercoaster of emotions and we have music to fit our emotions to be just as we feel. Music has a great deal of importance of many people. It can have a meaning that they cannot explain to others and are able to connect with the song. By doing so experts are able to help patients overcome many sicknesses with the help of music. Music therapy is capable of being an advantage for many individual patients, it can encourage responses from patients that other methods of therapy cannot get from them. Also, it improves the patients in distinctive ways other than for an illness.
British Psychological Society (BPS) (2013) Making music may improve young children's behavior. Available at: http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=134087&CultureCode=en (Accessed: 17 January 2014).
Neal, D. O., & Lindeke, L. L. (2008). Music as a nursing intervention for preterm infants in the NICU. Neonatal Network, 27(5), 319-327. Retrieved from http://proxy.samuelmerritt.edu:2268/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&sid=a8d019e7-49df-4d8e-a6b1-8774f2f36327%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4207
The correlation between music and individuals is a very heavily researched topic. This literature review will critically evaluate the claim made by Don Campbell (1997, p.24) that ‘playing Mozart makes babies smarter’. This review will look at the history of the Mozart effect and also look at a range of sources that support and also go against the claim that the Mozart effect makes babies smarter. These claims will be analysed through the three main measurements in relation the Mozart effect these are spatial reasoning, arousal and also mood.
UCP, . "Benefits of Music for Children with Special Needs: Tips for Parents and Educators." United Cerebral Palsy. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 Jan 2012.
Over the next few months the child will grow and develop so much that every day will be filled with mouth dropping excitement. Hearing for infants will become more defined but will still need more development to reach their full range of hearing. In the text the author me...
There is no voice more comforting than Mama’s. In the womb we are suspended in safe warmth, hearing every noise that Mama makes. And we don’t just hear her voice. We feel its vibrations, its muffled hum, through our ears and our entire forming bodies. It’s no wonder that that is often the only voice that can comfort us in the distress of our new little lives. Yet, what of the mother who cannot speak? Can she still comfort her baby? Yes, because it is much more than vocal chords that connect a baby with its birth mother. After all, Baby eats all that Mama eats, breathes Mama’s air, knows Mama’s way of moving and laughing…Baby feels every surge of adrenaline that Mama feels. Bonds don’t get more intimate than that. Even after Baby is born, this bond is strengthened through long bouts of staring into each other’s eyes, through feeling the lulling rhythm of Mama’s breathing while sleeping against her chest, through time spent together saturated in touch and play. This phenomenon of intimacy is so powerful that it surpasses any blindness or handicap Mama could possibly have.