The role and outcomes of music therapy during pregnancy: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of included trials.

Author, year	Location	Sample size	Intervention phase	Type of music	Music therapy strategy	Measuring instruments	Result
S.E. Hosseini, etc. 2013	Iran	30	Not mentioned	BaraneEshgh (Love Rain) composed by Manouchehr Cheshmazar	30 min in each hour for a two-hour period during labor	Numerical Pain Rating Scale Visual Analogue Scales (VAS), and Verbal Pain Rating Scale	decreased feeling visual, verbal and numeric pain one hour after intervention of music-therapy
Serap Simavli, etc. 2013	Turkey	156	Primiparous women at 37–41 weeks of gestation	classical music, Turkish art music, Turkish folk music, Turkish classical music and popular music	all the time with a20- min break for every hour during the latent phase and the first 2 h and changed to be more rhythmic during the late active phase (after the first 2 h) and the second stage of labor	VAS	lower level of pain, anxiety and vital signs and higher fetal movements, basal fetal heart rate (BFHR) and accelerations
Serap Simavli, etc. 2013	Turkey	161	Primiparous women at 37–42 weeks of gestation	classical music, light music, popular music, Turkish art music, Turkish folk music and Turkish sufi music	all the time with a 20-min break for every two hours during labor	VAS and Edinburg Postpartum Depression Scale	lower level of postpartum pain and anxiety, so did postpartum depression rate at postpartum day one and day eight
Yu-Hsiang Liu, etc. 2015	China	121	18–34 weeks of gestation	Symphonic music and other western classical music or Chinese children’s rhymes and songs performed primarily by the glass armonica/Crystal Music.	30 min per day at bedtime for two weeks	Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Perceived Stress Scale, and State- Anxiety Inventory(STAI)	significant improvement in sleep quality, stress, and anxiety in the Music Listening group
J. García González, etc. 2017	Spain	409	at and above 36 weeks of gestation	"Musical Journey through Pregnancy" by Gabriel F. Federico	40 min, at 65–70 dB, three times a week at the same time of day	STAI	reduced anxiety in full-term pregnant women, and improved the delivery process by reducing the length of the first stage of labor
J. García González, etc. 2017	Spain	409	at and above 37 weeks of gestation	"Musical Journey through Pregnancy" by Gabriel F. Federico	41 min, at 65–70 dB, three times a week at the same time of day	Electronic monitor, fetal monitoring cardiotocograph, scales and tape measure and an analytical blood test.	The fetal heart rate (FHR) and BFHR increased with more reactive and greater chest circumference. systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic (DBP)and maternal heart rate(MHR)decreased at the end of the NST
Sule Gokyildiz Surucu, etc. 2017	Turkey	50	37–41 weeks of gestation	Not mentioned	Acemasiran mode with earplugs for 3 h (20 min of listening with 10-minute breaks).	VAS, STAI and Post-Delivery Evaluation Form	Painwas less and state anxiety average scores became lower.
J. Garcıa Gonzalez, etc. 2018	Spain	409	36 weeks of gestation	“Musical Journey through Pregnancy” by Gabriel F. Federico	40 min per session for 14 sessions, three times a week and at the same time of day.	STAI	reduced state-trait anxiety in pregnant women during the third trimester, and improved the delivery process
Philip Hepp, etc. 2018	Germany	304	Not mentioned	15 tracks at tempo of 60–80 bpm were each assigned to one of the 4 different genres of music.	started when the participant entered the operating theater	VAS, STAI and salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase level	the effect of reduing anxiety and stress soothing on the wake patient during cesarean
HaticeErkunDolker, etc. 2019	Turkey	100	32–41 weeks of gestation	Turkish classical music, Turkish folk music or classical music	when NST was taken	STAI and fetal monitoring cardiotocograph	increase fetal acceleration numbers and reactive NST rates and reduce mean anxiety score
Annarita Buglione, etc. 2020	Italy	30	37–42 + 0 weeks of gestation	select music based on personal preference	whole labor process	VAS	lower pain scores and anxiety level of active phase of labor and 1 h postpartum was were presented
Şeyma Çatalgöl, etc. 2021	Turkey	100	36–38 weeks of gestation	12 Classical Turkish Music	when NST was taken	STAI,	reduce anxiety level and increase acceleration, mean number of fetal movements and reactivity
Perković, R, etc. 2021	Austria	198	14–33 + 6 weeks of gestation	Not mentioned	daily in the evening before bedtime, lasting 15 min	VAS and Symptom Checklist − 90	lower pain scores and weak performance in the dimensions of interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, phobic anxiety, and paranoid ideations
Yasemin Sanlı, etc. 2022	Turkey	70	Not mentioned	musical pieces composed in Uşşak mode	30 min every other day (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) for two weeks before going to sleep	Prenatal comfort scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index–1 week	better subjective sleep quality, sleep latency and general sleep quality in the second week of the intervention
Eti Salafas, etc. 2022	Indonesia	30	Not mentioned	relaxation music with a beat of 60 bit/minute	15 min	Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety	The average anxiety score dropped to 4.47 from 9.53, although it was still in the mild anxiety category
Huimin Guo, etc. 2022	China	440	Not mentioned	select music based on personal preference	comfortable meditation or hypnotic music in the early stage of the first stage of labor, intense rhythmic music in the middle and late stages of the first stag, parent-child music in the second and third stages	Perception of Labor Pain Questionnaire (PLPQ) and Perineal Pain Score	Better results of pain score, postpartum hemorrhage, and perineum condition. But a longer duration of the first stage and total stage of labor due to less medical intervention
Susann Kobus, etc. 2023	Germany	33	<32 weeks gestational age	singing at low volume or played soft sounds of the instrument sansula	The first session was performed during the second week of life and from then on was provided twice per week until discharge	Allgemeine Depressions Skalalang, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and Impact of Event Scale revised questionnaire	Mothers whose infants received music therapy showed stronger declines of depressive and stress symptoms

Figure 1. Flow diagram.

Data availability statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).