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Dr. Natalia Henner, a newborn specialist at Lurie hospital, said studies in nursing journals show music therapy for preemies "does help with promoting growth. And there's some good literature ... saying that the time to discharge is a little bit shorter in babies who've been exposed to more music therapy." She said it "definitely facilitates bonding" between parents of preemies and other babies too sick to go home. Loewy led a study published last month in the journal Pediatrics, involving 11 U.S. hospitals. Therapists in the study played special small drums to mimic womb sounds and timed the rhythm to match the infants' heartbeats. The music appeared to slow the infants' heartbeats, calm their breathing, and improve sucking and sleeping, Loewy said. Soozie Cotter-Schaufele, a music therapist at Advocate Children's Hospital-Park Ridge near Chicago, says soothing rhythmic sounds of music can mimic womb sounds and provide a comforting environment for preemies. She sings and plays a small harp or guitar, and says the sounds help calm tiny babies while they're undergoing painful medical procedures. Cotter-Schaufele said she recently heard from a woman whose daughter was born prematurely at her hospital six years ago. She had played the 1960s folk song "Today" for the infant. The mother reported her daughter "'still loves that song," She said
'She didn't learn that song from me, she learned it from you,'" Cotter-Schaufele said. ___ Online: American Music Therapy Association: Pediatrics: http://www.pediatrics.org/
http://www.musictherapy.org/
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