The Lullaby Project: A Musical Intervention for Pregnant Women

Effect of Music-Based Interventions on Maternal and Fetal Parameters during Pregnancy: A Systematic Review

INTRODUCTION

Music is a non-pharmacological intervention often used to improve maternal mental health during pregnancy. However, there is limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of music-based interventions on maternal and fetal parameters during pregnancy. We present a systematic review of the available research literature on the effects of music interventions on maternal and fetal parameters.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search was conducted on the Web of Science, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Cochrane, ProQuest, and Turkish databases. The review included randomized controlled and quasi-experimental studies. Two independent authors evaluated the methodological quality of each study using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. The study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42018102914).

RESULTS

The literature review yielded a total of 723 studies. Among these studies, 13 were included in this study. Most of the studies involving low-risk pregnant women reported that music had no effect on stress but reduced anxiety and depression. The effect of music on pregnant women's blood pressure varied depending on the presence of medical conditions that could affect their blood pressure. While some studies showed that music interventions effectively increased fetal movement and acceleration, the available findings were limited.

CONCLUSION

Healthcare professionals can use simple, cost-effective, and practical music interventions to improve maternal mental health during pregnancy without neglecting medical treatment. Future well-designed studies are recommended to investigate the effects of music on maternal psychological, physiological parameters and fetal parameters in high-risk pregnancies.

Effect of lullaby on volume, fat, total protein and albumin concentration of breast milk in premature infants' mothers admitted to NICU: a randomized controlled trial

Background

Listening to music can reduce or manage stress, fatigue, and accompanying symptoms in mothers. Music increases oxytocin secretion which affects breast milk. This study aimed to examine the effect of lullaby on volume, fat, total protein and albumin concentration of breast milk in mothers of premature infants admitted to the NICU.

Methods

This clinical trial was performed on 100 primiparous mothers whose premature infants were hospitalized in the NICU of Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital from January 2020 to December 2020. Using block randomization method, the participants were divided into three groups: control (A), playing lullaby for mother (B) and playing lullaby for a mother while holding a photo of her own baby (C). The mothers of the intervention groups listened to lullabies through headphones for 30 minutes every morning for 6 days. On the first and the sixth day of birth, the volume of breast milk (ml) and two milliliters of breast milk samples of all three groups were measured and compared in terms of fat, albumin concentration and total protein (mg/DL). ANOVA, Paired T-Test and ANCOVA model (the included variables were: basic value of dependent variable, group type, Maternal age, Birth weight, Gestational age and Maternal weight) was used for analytical statistics.

Results

The difference between the mean compositions of breast milk before and after the intervention in three groups of A, B and C: in terms of the breast milk volume were 66.33 ± 4.80, 71.30 ± 4.18 and 75.91 ± 6.80 ml; in terms of triglyceride level was 177.84 ± 50.57, 210.72 ± 34.55 and 224.17 ± 12.97 mg/DL, cholesterol level was 14.57 ± 3.70, 21.96 ± 3.82 and 26.26 ± 5.16 mg/DL, albumin concentration was 0.90 ± 0.30, 1.22 ± 0.19 and 1.46 ± 0.28 mg/DL and total protein level was 1.61 ± 0.61, 2.20 ± 0.57 and 2.72 ± 0.30 mg/DL. Finally, the results of ANCOVA analysis for the effects of the intervention, taking into account the baseline values, showed that the intervention was effective and had the greatest effect on cholesterol levels.

Conclusion

In this small trial, there was a statistically significant association between trial arm and biochemical composition of breastmilk though further studies are needed to see if these changes result in meaningful clinical outcomes to the infant.

Trial registration

IRCT, IRCT20191114045439N1. Registered 14 January 2020- prospective, https://en.irct.ir/trial/43671

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13006-022-00511-7.