The Role of Live Music and Singing as a Stress-Reducing Modality in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Environment

Among the developmentally supportive care modalities that have been tested in the treatment of preterm infants, music interventions have been tested quite intensively. This article reports on the environmental, cultural, and philosophical considerations of a research program that studied the effects of live music, wordless singing, and rhythm upon neonates in a Middle Eastern NICU hospital unit. The cultural setting and dynamics of the NICU created a unique challenge which involved the discovery of music as an intervention that effectively enhanced communication within a culturally divergent population. At the same time, music decreased stress and increased a sense of humanity in the intensive care unit setting. Keywords arts medicine, maternal singing, NICU music therapy, wordless singing, live healing music, frame drum In recent years, developmental care approaches that use a range of nursing interventions aiming to decrease the stress of preterm neonates in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) have been developed (Symington & Pinelli, 2006). These interven-tions are designed to allow optimal neurobehavioral develop-ment of the infant and by that to improve neurodevelopment