The Symphony of the Womb
Posted by realityrounds on May 28, 2009
“Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.” William Congreve
One area I absolutely love in NICU nursing is the area of developmental care. High risk infants, especially premature ones, are subjected to a lot of pain and suffering in the NICU. It is hard to imagine one minute being in a safe, warm and loving environment, and BAM!, your yanked out to the cold, loud, painful world. I often wonder what is going on in these babies brains who are in the nursery. What are they thinking about after being thrust into the crazy, high-tech world of the NICU.
Developmental care is an infant focused way of caring for them. We let the infants call the shots. It is way of letting the baby tell you if he is ready for nipple feedings, or being held, or being talked to. The baby will give us the cues as to what to do next. I think of developmental care as a way to simulate the womb as much as possible. The parents are active in the care and recovery of their babies, and many developmental interventions and products have come from parental requests. It is not just technology that helps a sick baby grow and heal.
All mothers sing to their babies. I am not a singer, but I found myself humming soothing tunes to my newborns. I admit I did not know very many lullabies, so I found myself singing Pop tunes or commercials in a lullaby tone. My bologna has a first name it’s M. A. Y. E .R……… It turns out, there may be a scientific reason for singing to your babies. A new study shows that music played to premature babies in the NICU leads to increased weight gain, and lessons the pain of invasive procedures. new york times
There are no reasons given as to why music is so beneficial. I would sumize that it is a positive and soothing stimulas, in an noxious environment. Music may remind the infant of life inside the uterus. Music may remind the newborn of the symphony of the womb; percussion of a heartbeat, strings of a stretch, winds of a breath.
Music of the womb.
RR
pinky said
Agreed. When they are fresh out of the womb, they often calm down when I chat with them. They look very confused by it all. I am forever intriqued by the facial expressions they have at birth. You could say just about anything to them in a sing songy way and that would capture their attention.
realityrounds said
I love it. There are developmental studies that show infants respond first to their mom’s voice (duh), second to any female voice, third to their dad’s voice (sorry daddies). It has to do with that sing song way females talk to infants.
Cheryl said
After seeing my 30 weeker in the NICU, and singing to her, the nurses all agreed that music is really important to them. Jillian would open her eyes when I started talking to her. She didn’t do that for anyone else (not even my husband!) Wonderfully thought provoking posts as usual!
realityrounds said
See the reply I left for Pinky. Babies really love the sing song sounds their mom’s and females make.
Kelli said
What a beautiful post. Love the title. So many people don’t think about what an infant experiences going from the safety of the womb to the outside world and all its noise. Great writing.
realityrounds said
Thank you so much Kelli.
Pattie, RN said
Beautiful word picture in the final paragraph!
Birth_Lactation said
This is a soft beautiful way to cushion our little NICU babies… I havr found myself doing a little of that..usually when no one else is around. Now I think I’ll just sing softly when I want. Thank you!!