Researcher Finds Playing Classical Music Can Help Unborn Babies
If music can sooth the savage beast, what might classical music do for unborn babies? According to Chaos, An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, “Music Can Touch the Heart, Even Inside the Womb.”
The article begins
Playing music has long been a way for expectant parents to connect with their children in the womb, but a group of researchers has found evidence it can calm fetal heart rates, potentially providing developmental benefits.
Using mathematical analytical tools to identify patterns in heart rate variability, researchers studied the effect of classical music on the babies’ heartbeats.
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Thirty-six pregnant women were recruited. Researchers played a pair of classical pieces for the babies. “For the experiment, they chose ‘The Swan,’ by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, and ‘Arpa de Oro,’ by Mexican composer Abundio Martínez.”
By attaching external heart rate monitors, “the researchers could measure the fetal heart rate response to both songs,” the article continues. “And by employing nonlinear recurrence quantification analysis, they could identify changes in heart rate variability during and after the music was played.”
So, what did the researchers from the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, the Metropolitan Autonomous University, the General Hospital Nicolás San Juan, and the National Institute of Cardiology find?
“Overall, we discovered that exposure to music resulted in more stable and predictable fetal heart rate patterns,” said author Claudia Lerma. “We speculate that this momentary effect could stimulate the development of the fetal autonomic nervous system.”
Interestingly enough, while both classical pieces were effective, “they found that the Mexican guitar melody had a stronger effect.”
The article concludes on an encouraging note with further research planned:
For expectant parents at home, the researchers suggest that classical music could help promote fetal development.
“Our results suggest that these changes in fetal heart rate dynamics occur instantly in short-term fluctuations, so parents might want to consider exposing their fetuses to quiet music,” said Abarca-Castro. “Parents who play soothing music may stimulate and benefit the fetal autonomic system.”
The authors plan to continue to explore this effect, looking at different genres and types of music to further their understanding.
“To ascertain whether rhythmic or cultural variations elicit distinct fetal cardiac responses, we intend to increase the size of our sample and expand our investigation to include a variety of musical styles beyond classical pieces,” said author José Javier Reyes-Lagos.
LifeNews.com Note: Dave Andrusko is the editor of National Right to Life News and an author and editor of several books on abortion topics. This post originally appeared in at National Right to Life News Today —- an online column on pro-life issues.
