Creating a prenatal song for an unborn infant during a music therapy program: A longitudinal and microanalytic case study from before birth to three months of age

ABSTRACT

Introduction

In music therapy the prenatal songs for unborn infants have been shown to improve prenatal bonding, but we know little about their contribution to the first vocal interactions between mothers and infants up to three months of age. We aimed to explore: (a) the development of maternal singing from gestation until three months of age; (b) fetal and infant responsiveness to a prenatal song and (c) the effect of infant’s vocal responsiveness at three months of age for the tonal modulation of maternal singing.

Method

A case study of a mother—infant dyad was carried out in a music therapy program where a prenatal song for the unborn infant was created. A video recording of the dyad’s interaction was made based on a protocol where the mother hummed an improvised tune and sang the prenatal song to the unborn infant (during a 4D interactive ultrasound) and to the infant at nine days and three months of age. A microanalysis of the fetal movements and the dyad’s vocalizations was carried out.

Results

We found (a) an episode of fetal motor self-exploration after exposure to the prenatal song, (b) significantly longer infant vocalizations during the prenatal song than during humming (p = 0.01) and silence (p = 0.03) at three months of age, and (c) an increase of pitch in maternal singing following infant vocalizations.

Discussion

This study underlined the role of the prenatal singing to promote the interaction between parents and unborn infant and to improve the infant’s vocal responsiveness at three months of age.

KEYWORDS:

• Prenatal music therapy
• prenatal song
• maternal singing
• 4D interactive ultrasound
• fetal movements
• infant’s vocalizations
• microanalysis

Acknowledgments

The paper was reviewed for English language by Melaina Barnes, an editor financed by CESEM. The authors would like to thank the directors and technical team at the Emotional Ultrasound Center (EcoX) where the mother-fetus interaction was observed at 33 weeks of gestation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maria Eduarda Carvalho

Maria Eduarda Carvalho is PhD in psychology (Faculty of Psychology, University of Lisbon); Music therapist; Professor of the Master of Music Therapy (Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa, Portugal); Researcher at the Center for the Study of Sociology and Musical Aesthetics of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal) about the origins of communicative musicality and the intervention of music therapy in the perinatal and neonatal period.

Raul Rincón

Raul Rincón is Bachelor in Sound Engineering (Universidad de San Buenaventura, Bogotá - Colombia, 2005). Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Pedagogy (Universidad de San Buenaventura, Bogotá - Colombia, 2006), Master Degree in Music Therapy (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2014) Applied Acoustic Research Group member (B Classification). Associate Professor; Department of Engineering (Universidad de San Buenaventura, Bogotá). Currently estudent of Artistic Studies Doctoral Program (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal).

Mariana Gameiro

Mariana Gameiro started her musical studies very early, joining the Conservatory of Music, Choral Phydellius, where she finished 8th grade in the cello class. She has a degree in Musicology from the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and is currently attending a master’s degree in Music Therapy at the Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa.

Helena Rodrigues

Helena Rodrigues is an Assistant Professor at Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, and the founder of Laboratory for Music and Communication in Infancy of the research unit CESEM. She was a Research Fellow at Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts. She studied with Edwin Gordon for almost twenty years. Colwyn Trevarthen has been another strong influence on her work. Physical theatre and somatic education domains are at the core of her interests. She is a founder of Companhia de Música Teatral, a group that creates “artistic and educative constellations” that have Music at the root of interdisciplinary practice. Supported by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, she coordinated several projects aiming to improve artistic practices for infancy and early childhood and has contributed to innovative approaches on training in these areas. She has been publishing regularly and is often invited to lecture and give workshops over the world.