Alternative Healing for Premature Babies
Music and Sound Reduction
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Children's Hospital Center of Akron, Ohio, is studying the effects of music and sound reduction on the growth and development of premature babies. Since May 1997 the research team has been investigating whether changing or reducing the sounds premature babies hear helps them get better faster. The study includes NICU babies who are 25 to 30 weeks gestation, weighed less than 2 pounds, 12 ounces at birth, and are medically stable.
Previous studies on the use of music and on sound reduction have shown that noise increases a newborn's heart rate and blood pressure and decreases oxygen saturation levels. Noise can cause babies to spend more time awake or crying. "We are trying to find intervention techniques to help hospital staff and parents create a better growth environmental for these infants," said Vanessa L. Cook, RMT-BC, a board-certified registered music therapist and research coordinator for the study.
This article first appeared in the March, 1998 issue of Mothering Magazine. Visit their website at www.mothering.com
Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron, Carol Wallace or Andrea Reynolds, 330-379-8760.