Music Therapy in NICUs can help babies get home sooner.
For centuries, lullabies have helped soothe babies to sleep. But it’s only in the last couple decades that research showed, for premature babies, those in neonatal intensive care units, these slow, simple tunes could be life-changing.
Rich Moats, who manages the music therapy program at AdventHealth Orlando, said babies in NICU’s are unique patients.
He said, “The mom’s belly is the most protective environment for them, but when they’re born early they’re thrust into this world they’re not quite ready to handle,”
“So lights, sounds, being touched at different times, learning how to eat ….could also be a stressful experience for these tiny little babies.”
And when a baby is stressed, that can affect its brain permanently.
Jayne Standley directs the music therapy program at Florida State University and is considered by many to be the pioneer of its use in NICUs.
She started experimenting with the treatment about 20 years ago after she learned kids born premature were 50 percent more likely to need special education when they got older.
The music therapy includes “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” or just strumming on a guitar. The therapists constantly checked the baby’s monitor to see if any of her vital signs suggested she was overwhelmed.
It’s working. Standley said NICU music therapy has “mushroomed” in the last five or ten years.