A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is an intensive care unit specialising in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. Generally, this area is a noisy environment, in which all the equipment and monitors that this area has could be a stressful factor for some babies.
Recently, research was performed in Michigan USA to see how hearing a recording of their mother’s voice may help neonates sleep while in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). As the principal researcher said, Dr Renée Shellhaas, a clinical associate professor of pediatrics in the division of Pediatric Neurology at the University of Michigan, “Exposure to a mother’s voice recording may insulate NICU patients from some of the impact of unavoidable noise by reducing the likelihood of wakefulness during the highest peak noise levels”.
The study in a NICU involved 20 neonates born at or after 35 weeks of gestation and 27 born preterm at 33-34 weeks. Their mothers were recorded reading children’s books. The neonates underwent a 12-hour sleep evaluation by attended polysomnography. Each mother’s recording was randomised to be played continuously for her child during either the first or second 6-hours of the polysomnogram. Results indicate that newborns in a NICU were less likely to be awakened by noises when a recording of their mother’s voice was playing. The study also found that newborns born at or after 35 weeks gestation show sleep-wake patterns that appear to respond increasingly with age to recorded maternal voice exposure. Similar associations were not found for infants born before 35 weeks of gestation.
Newborn infants who are ill or born prematurely may require extended care in a neonatal ICU during a time of critical brain development. Shellhaas et al. noted that interventions designed to improve sleep in newborns who require intensive care may need to be tailored according to gestational age.
Another cool example of the magical relationship between mothers and babies can be described in this video, while it is in a foreign language, it does show the connection between them, and how feelings of calm and peace appear when the babies listen to their mother’s heartbeat: https://www.facebook.com/MamasAlpina/videos/1797001957274171/
References:
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “Preterm newborns sleep better in NICU while hearing their mother’s voice: Novel strategy can help improve sleep in a noisy neonatal intensive care unit.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 June 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180606170205.htm>.
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180606170205.htm
