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Updated: Jun 20, 2026
Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Published on: January 7, 2020
The effects of music listening on inconsolable crying in premature infants
Douglas R Keith1, Kendra Russell, Barbara S Weaver
1Georgia College and State University.
Insights
Music therapy significantly reduced inconsolable crying in premature infants unable to eat orally. This intervention also improved infant physiological measures, offering a viable non-pharmacological approach for neonatal intensive care units.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Medicine
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Music Therapy Research
Background:
- Critically ill premature infants frequently experience inconsolable crying, especially after ventilation and before oral feeding.
- These crying episodes cause significant distress to infants, parents, and healthcare staff.
- Existing research supports music therapy for premature infants, but its effect on inconsolable crying during "nothing by mouth" status is unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of music therapy on inconsolable crying behaviors in critically ill premature infants.
- To assess physiological responses to music intervention in this vulnerable population.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled study involving 24 premature infants (gestational age 32-40 weeks).
- Infants received a developmentally appropriate music listening intervention on alternating days.
- Control days involved no music intervention, allowing for comparison.
Main Results:
- Music therapy significantly decreased the frequency and duration of inconsolable crying episodes.
- Key physiological measures, including heart rate, respiration rate, oxygen saturation, and mean arterial pressure, showed improvement.
- The intervention proved effective even without a therapist or maternal voice.
Conclusions:
- Recorded music listening is a viable and effective intervention for managing inconsolable crying in premature infants.
- Music therapy offers a promising non-pharmacological strategy to improve infant well-being and reduce healthcare staff burden.
- Findings support the integration of music interventions in neonatal intensive care settings for "nothing by mouth" patients.
Abstract:
Over the decades, medical staff have developed strategies to manage crying episodes of the critically ill and convalescing premature infant. These episodes of crying occur frequently after infants are removed from ventilation, but before they are able to receive nutrition orally. Not only are these episodes stressful to infants and upsetting to parents, but they are also stressful and time consuming for the staff that take care of these patients. Although the literature supports the benefits of music therapy in regard to physiological and certain behavioral measures with premature infants, no research exists that explores the use of music therapy with inconsolability related to the "nothing by mouth" status. This study explored the effects of music therapy on the crying behaviors of critically ill infants classified as inconsolable. Twenty-four premature infants with gestational age 32-40 weeks received a developmentally appropriate music listening intervention, alternating with days on which no intervention was provided. The results revealed a significant reduction in the frequency and duration of episodes of inconsolable crying as a result of the music intervention, as well as improved physiological measures including heart rate, respiration rate, oxygen saturation, and mean arterial pressure. Findings suggest the viability of using recorded music in the absence of a music therapist or the maternal voice to console infants when standard nursing interventions are not effective.
