More than one medical study has tested the therapeutic use of music. In babies, in particular, a calming and relieving effect on painful processes. In the smallest it is difficult to measure the concrete impact of the most complex clinical interventions. “There are many studies that have investigated this, but it is difficult to find works that are specific about the use of music and benefits in very young children,” says Catalina Morales, assistant in the Neonatology Service at the Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid.
In this sense, a recent study published in Pediatric Research collects in a concrete and concise way a test in which they have verified how A Mozart lullaby eases the process in newborns. “Here we can scientifically measure the impact,” explains Morales. “Because the factors that are included are the same in all situations: same song, same procedure [prueba del talón] and the same situational context of babies”.
The work has been carried out by the team led by Saminathan Anbalagan, a neonatologist at Thomas Jefferson University in New York. This expert explains to this medium the reasons for choosing the piece by the Austrian composer. “The choice of classical music, that is, the music of Mozart, was due to its widespread use in research and alignment with our broader interest in exploring the impact of music on pain perception in newborns.” .
Anbalagan specifies that the one used in the investigation “It was selected because it features minor tones, a slow rhythm, and has a calming quality that is believed to lead to relaxation and the perceived potential to create a calming atmosphere for newborns undergoing minor painful procedures.”
One of the reasons for this work is that “neonatal pain as an underappreciated area in the medical world, as pointed out by other authors, Juan H. Velasquez and Denisse Staufert Gutierrez”, explains Anbalagan. “There has been a long-standing misconception that newborns do not experience pain or retain painful experiences. Only in the last few decades has research shown that newborns experience it, sometimes even intensely.”