Study Finds Pregnant Women Should Be Listening To A Specific Type Of Music To Calm Their Unborn Babies
Music truly is magical.
Africa Studio | Shutterstock Music can truly soothe the soul, regardless of your age. But what you probably didn't know is that music can even be a balm for babies who are still in the womb! Sure, lullabies can help newborns fall asleep, but a new study found that a very specific genre of music can actually impact unborn babies' heart rates, leading researchers to conclude that it actually calms them.
Don't save Brahms' Lullaby for after they're born, pregnant moms can and should start listening to classical music before baby makes their first appearance.
Researchers out of Mexico found that pregnant women should listen to classical music to calm their unborn babies.
Researchers from Mexico studied 36 pregnant women by playing two classical music pieces to see how their unborn babies would react to the music by measuring their heart rate patterns.
According to Classic FM, the two compositions chosen in the experiment were “Le Cygne,” also known as “The Swan,” which is the 13th part of "The Carnival of the Animals" by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns and “Arpa de Oro” also known as “Golden Harp” a Spanish waltz by Mexican composer Abundio Martínez.
All thirty-six pregnant women and their unborn babies were monitored using the heart rate variability (HRV) to detect any irregularities of heartbeats in the unborn babies and to see how they reacted to both pieces of music. The higher the HRV, the healthier the baby’s heart.
“We discovered that exposure to music resulted in more stable and predictable fetal heart rate patterns,” said study co-author Dr. Claudia Lerma from the National Institute of Cardiology Ignacio Chávez.
Classical music has been shown to increase cognitive function in babies after they are born.
Most people know that playing classical music creates a calming ambiance and establishes a cultural foundation for children to enhance their appreciation of all genres of music, but it also provides important benefits for brain development in infants.
Commonly referred to as the "Mozart effect," research suggests that babies exposed to classical compositions have increased spatial reasoning. Spatial reasoning is associated with complex problem-solving skills. The theory is that the complex structure of classical music, combined with its pleasurable tones, activates neural pathways related to spatial processing in the brain. Basically, when babies listen, they are trying to decipher why the tones and sounds combine to make such intricate melodies.
Classical music has also been linked to improved short-term and long-term memory in children. Its repetitive and structured nature improves the retrieval of information in the brain. Researchers found that children who listen to and even take lessons in an educational setting often exhibit superior memory retention in academics.
Parents should incorporate all kinds of music into their children's lives.
If you didn't listen to classical music before your baby was born, it's never too late to start. In fact, parenting experts agree that just having it on in the background at bedtime or even during morning breakfast can have a huge impact on learning and development.
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It's certainly much better than spending that time watching TV or engaging in screen time. From improved language skills, emotional development, and empathy to improved motor skills, exposing babies and young children to music is integral to their development. It's also fun!
Music teaches kids about different cultures and how they relate to the world around them. It opens their minds to a world that is much bigger than their neighborhoods. If you're in the family planning stages, spruce up your Spotify and add some classical pieces to your pregnancy playlists, and if your kids are older, introduce them to different genres of music — don't forget to expand their horizons beyond just what you like to listen to. It's the perfect way to learn and grow together.
Sylvia Ojeda is an author with a decade of experience writing novels and screenplays. She covers self-help, relationships, culture, and human interest topics.