Music Therapy with Premature Infants in the Intensive Care Nursery
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My name is Brianna Negrete and I’m a music therapist at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco. I have the privilege of working in the Intensive Care Nursery (ICN) and the Cardiac Units and I specialize in using music therapy with premature infants.
With this fragile population, understandably, caregivers can be unsure or nervous on how to interact with their premature baby. This is where music therapy can step in. Music therapists that work with this population are specially trained. They have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in music therapy and hold an additional certification to work with premature infants.
When music therapists are conducting a music therapy session for a baby in the ICN, it’s always done with playing live music. This means that music therapists play guitar, sing, play the piano or use small percussion instruments. With premature infants, research has shown that only guitar and voice should be used. One of the main reasons this is done is because the music therapists can adapt the volume, song and tempo quickly, and that can’t be done with Pandora, Spotify or a CD.
Part of the music therapist’s role is to empower parents to sing/talk to their baby when they’re holding or whenever they’re at the bedside. Here are some of the benefits of music therapy and why it’s used in the ICN:
It Encourages Bonding
One of the best times to do music therapy is during skin-to-skin contact. When the caregiver talks, hums or sings, the vibrations that occur are very soothing to the baby and it encourages bonding.
Language Development
Since these patients were born early, it’s important that they are exposed to language. Music is a great way to expose them to language. The music therapist will typically ask the family to identify a few songs that are important to them so they can be sung during the session. If it’s a song the caregiver is familiar with, the more likely they are to sing it along with the music therapist.
It's Soothing
In an environment where there’s constant activity, having soothing music can sometimes be better than medication in calming a baby. When providing the music, the music therapist is always watching the baby and the monitors and responding to the cues the baby is giving during the session. The side benefit is that the music is calming to staff in addition to the baby.
Having a baby is a big adjustment. Having a baby in the ICN is an even bigger adjustment for some families. Music therapy plays an important role to empower these caregivers to talk and sing to their babies to help them grow, develop and bond.
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