To Örebro University

This clinical trial tested the pain relieving effect of live lullaby singing on behavioral and physiological pain responses during venepuncture in 38 preterm and full term neonates. Acute and repeated pain, as well as the use of analgesic drugs, may have long-term negative impact on infants’ development and future behaviour. This emphasizes the need for complementary approaches to pain management such as music therapy.

Parent-preferred lullabies were performed live and standard care was provided for all neonates. Behavioral responses with regard to pain were assessed with Premature Infant Pain Profile-Revised (PIPP-R) and Behavioral Indicators of Infant Pain (BIIP). Heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation were measured each tenth second.

Although the live lullaby singing did not show a statistically significant effect on the infants’ pain score, there was a significantly calmer breathing pattern in the lullaby intervention versus the control condition in the pre-needle stage, showing a non-significant trend towards higher oxygen saturation levels and calmer heart rate in the lullaby intervention versus the control condition in the pre-needle stage. There were non-significant indications of fewer and shorter skin punctures with lullaby singing. More research is needed to explore such positive trends in the data.

During the most vulnerable period in a child’s life, preterm and sick infants are exposed to a high number of painful procedures, sometimes without the comfort and affection of their parents. Since repeated pain and frequent use of analgesic drugs may have consequences for the neurological and behaviour-oriented development of the infant, it is vital to identify effective non-pharmacological interventions with regard to procedural pain. This paper reviews the use of live lullaby singing as an adjuvant to the control of premature infant pain. The objectives of this case study were to analyse the live lullaby singing for two premature infants during venipuncture in comparison to standard care only, and the infants’ physiological and affective responses emerging before, during and after this procedure. The empirical data stem from a quantitative clinical study. From this larger study, two premature infants were selected. Through microanalysis, with in-depth analysis of video footage, and pain assessment with Behavioral Indicators of Infant Pain (BIIP), painful standard care procedures with and without live lullaby singing, were analysed. The results show that live lullaby singing with premature infants is a communicative interaction which may optimize the homeostatic mechanisms of the infant during painful procedures. This case study shows the importance of predictability of the affective support, right from the start of the live singing intervention. It is important in a painful context that vocal interactions provide regular and comforting intensity, shape and temporal structures.

Infant-directed singing is a medium for parents and infants to communicate in a mutual relationship. Parental infant-directed singing is a multisensory, biopsychosocial communication that applies to ill and vulnerable hospitalised infants. The primary musical features of infant-directed singing are ideal for emotional coordination and sharing between parent and infant without the risk of over-stimulation. In this article, we suggest that parental infant-directed singing is regarded as a nonpharmacological emotion regulation intervention, which may modify the painful experience for both the infant and the parent before, during and after painful procedures in the neonatal intensive care context. Parents have the biopsychosocial resources to alleviate their infant’s pain through infant-directed singing, if they are empowered to do so and coached in this process. A music therapist specialised in neonatal music therapy methods can mentor parents in how to use entrained and attuned live lullaby singing in connection to painful procedures. Pain and the vast amount of painful procedures early in infancy, combined with early parent–infant separation and lack of parental participation in the care of the infant during neonatal intensive care, place arduous strain on the new family’s attachment process and on the infant’s and parents’ mental health, both from a short and long-term perspective. Therefore, we argue with biopsychosocial rationales, that live parental infant-directed singing should be promoted in neonatal pain care worldwide. Consequently, parents should be welcomed round the clock and invited as prescribed pain management for their infant.

Since the 1990s, the concept of family-centred care, where the family and healthcare staff share responsibility for the infant’s hospital care, has been part of an ongoing paradigm shift in neonatal care globally. The public health care system with family-friendly parental leave policies might be one of the reasons that the Nordic countries today are at the forefront of welcoming and including parents and partners in the care of their infant round the clock. When implementing neonatal music therapy (NICU MT) in the context of Nordic health care, music therapy models of practice as well as research ought to be defined and shaped by the family-centred care model, which today is considered best practice. The Nordic context also offers favourable conditions for further developing NICU MT approaches in line with family-centred care. NICU MT was first developed in the USA in the 1980s and the interventions were infantfocused, emphasising the infant’s physical and medical needs, which was the existing care focus in neonatal care at that time. Neonatal music therapy and research in the Nordic countries is still in its infancy. Systematic implementation work was first initiated in Karlstad, Sweden in 2010 and in Akershus and Oslo, Norway in 2017. 

This essay provides the international music therapy field as well as other professionals in paediatric and neonatal health care an insight into the evolving Nordic approach of NICU MT. The conclusion of this essay is that the familycentred care approach in the Nordic NICUs, combined with the progressive family politics in the Nordic countries with generous parental leave schemes and gender equality in childcare, afford important prerequisites to further develop NICU MT as a truly family-centred approach.