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• 03Aug2010

  The many uses of voice

  Posted by Liz Attenborough

  I went to a fascinating presentation at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital recently, given by Helen Shoemark, who is Senior Music Therapist at the Neonate and Infant Programme at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.  The subject was her study, over five years, of the use of music therapy with vulnerable infants in the premature baby unit.

  Research with these early-borns shows that there is voice discrimination by 35 weeks gestation, with auditory memory clearly in place. Babies born six, eight and even 12 weeks early can be calmed by listening to their mother’s voice and making eye contact. Being calm helps the babies stay relaxed and not use too much energy fretting, which is detrimental as crying uses energy and the babies lose some of their precious weight. It was shown that a voice on a recording would not do, but mother or regular therapist in place, humming gently, is not over-stimulating and helps de-stress the baby. A therapist making eye contact and gently singing, or speaking musically, the same way each time, three times a week for four weeks, helped these fragile newborn infants stay noticeably calmer and allowed them to do the all-important growing that they need to do in order to thrive. 

  With gentle holding, making eye contact and just a little musicality, the psychological and cognitive benefits were noticeable in the babies’ general development. Tested on their responses later, the babies who had benefited from the musical intervention were more responsive and quicker in their responses as they grew. This early pre-verbal communication time has been found to deliver major benefits at this specially vulnerable time in a premature baby’s life, and is another indication of how vital early interaction and communication is from the earliest days.

  So something as seemingly simple as gently singing, being in tune with your baby, really could be a life saver. Don’t waste time worrying about how well you think you can sing, just do it.

Tags: Early Years, Early years sector, Health, Talk To Your Baby

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