GabyIt’s no secret that Mozart’s classical music helps millions of people worldwide relax. However, new research shows this effect is true not only for adults but also for infants. Researchers found that when babies listened to Mozart’s “Lullaby,” they experienced less pain during a heel prick.
How Was the Study Conducted?
Heel pricks can be quite painful for infants, so parents are advised to hold and feed them to ease their discomfort. Now experts say Mozart’s music may be a simple and inexpensive tool to reduce pain during minor procedures in newborns.
A team of researchers from New York measured pain levels in 100 infants undergoing blood tests. On average, the babies were 2 days old, all full-term newborns.
As part of standard care, all infants were given 0.5 ml of a sugar solution two minutes before the heel prick. The researcher, wearing noise-cancelling headphones, assessed the babies’ pain levels before, during, and after the procedure. Pain was measured by facial expression, crying intensity, breathing patterns, limb movements, and alertness.
In the study, 54 of the 100 infants listened to Mozart’s “Lullaby” for 20 minutes before and during the heel prick and for 5 minutes afterward, while the others did not. The procedure was always conducted in a quiet, dimly lit room at ambient temperature. The infants were not physically comforted.
Mozart’s Music Relieves Infant Pain
According to the results, similar pain levels were observed in both groups before the prick, with zero pain scores out of seven. However, the average pain score for infants listening to Mozart was significantly lower during and immediately after the heel prick compared to those who did not listen.
Pain scores for babies who listened to the “Lullaby” were 4 during the test, and 0 one and two minutes after the procedure. In the group without music, pain scores were 7, 5.5, and 2, respectively. The study also showed no difference in average pain scores between groups three minutes after the procedure.
The findings suggest that certain types of soothing music can have a powerful calming effect even on infants’ brains. This may be because musical sounds distract babies from pain.
Previous research in adults showed that live, pleasant music relieves pain more than gloomy or sad music, suggesting distraction alone cannot fully explain the results.
The Secret of Music’s Pain-Relief Effect Remains Unknown
Perhaps there is something in the tempo, harmony, or melody that relaxes the human brain, even if the listener has had little prior exposure to music. However, this study did not compare different types of music or their pain-relieving effects, which might be explored in the future.
According to the researchers in an interview with Daily Mail, future studies may explore whether recordings of parents’ voices can also reduce pain in newborns during minor procedures and investigate the impact of caregivers’ physical comfort, alongside music, on pain levels.
The authors note that recorded music, alongside sucrose, is effective for reducing pain and recommend its use in full-term newborns. According to the researchers, musical intervention is an easy, reproducible, and inexpensive tool to relieve pain during minor procedures in healthy, full-term infants.
