Barely born, newborns have to endure various, sometimes somewhat painful examinations. US researchers report that certain music can make such experiences significantly less unpleasant for babies in the specialist magazine Pediatric Research.
The team led by Saminathan Anbalagan from the Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center in New York examined the pain sensation of healthy, term newborns in a hospital before, during and after blood collection as part of a routine screening. Blood is taken from the baby’s heel and analyzed within the first two days of life in order to detect serious illnesses as early as possible.
The researchers randomly divided 100 newborns into two groups: half heard 20 minutes before the puncture and five minutes afterwards an instrumental, soothing lullaby called “Deep Sleep” – the control group did not. Shortly before the procedure, all babies received a small amount of sugar solution, which is said to reduce the sensation of pain. The infants had no pacifiers or other sedatives. The doctors wore soundproof headphones, so they didn’t even know if the babies were listening to music or not.
Infants’ sensitivity to pain has long been underestimated
With the lullaby, the infants found the heel prick to be significantly less painful than the babies in the control group who did not hear music. The doctors assessed this using a standardized system that determines the pain level of the children based on facial expressions, crying, breathing, limb movements and general excitement. While the children from the control group reached the maximum scale value of seven when they were pricked, the music averaged around four. One minute after the prick, the average pain reaction of the babies without music was still 5.5, but in the group with music it was already zero again.
The group writes that infants’ perception of pain has long been underestimated. However, it is now known that early pain experiences can influence pain reactions later in life. Therefore, establishing a simple and reliable method for pain relief in newborns is crucial.
“Music intervention is a simple, reproducible, and inexpensive tool for pain relief during minor procedures in healthy newborns,” the researchers write. The results could be applied to maternity wards with limited resources, for example. In addition, one could specifically examine whether, for example, previously recorded sequences with the parents’ voices or comforting physical contact in addition to music could also alleviate pain.