 News
7th October 2008
How Beethoven eases pregnancy stress
Mothers-to-be who listen to lullabies, classical music for example Beethoven
and sounds of nature are less likely to feel stressed about their pregnancy,
a study has shown.
The music's
tempo was set at 60 to 80 beats per minute, the same as the human heart, and was
found to ease anxiety and depression. Scientists split pregnant women into
two groups, with 116 given music CDs and 120, in the control group, receiving
normal pregnancy care. The women using the music received four CDs, each
containing about 30 minutes of music. One CD featured lullabies, a second
contained classical music, a third included nature sounds and a fourth played
New Age 'crystal music' versions of Chinese nursery rhymes and songs such as Twinkle
Twinkle Little Star. The women were told to listen to at least one disc
all the way through, every day, for two weeks. They could choose when they
listened to the music but had to record what they were doing at the time and which
CD they chose. Most listened while they were resting, at bedtime or carrying
out chores. Widely used measuring systems were utilised to work out how
the women felt. The results showed those in the music group were far less
stressed, depressed or anxious at the end of the study. Professor Chung-Hey
Chen, who led the study at Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan, said: 'Pregnancy
is a unique and stressful period for many expectant mothers and they suffer anxiety
and depression because of the long time period involved. 'Our study shows
that listening to suitable music provides a simple, cost-effective and non-invasive
way of reducing stress, anxiety and depression during pregnancy.' The women
in the study published in the Journal Of Clinical Nursing were between 18 and
34 weeks' pregnant. Before the study, the women in the music group scored
17.44 on the Perceived Stress Scale, which ranges from zero to 30 and is used
to measure the perception of stress. Afterwards, their stress levels had
dropped by an average of 2.15, compared with 0.92 in the control group. Anxiety
was measured by a scale ranging from 20 to 80. It fell by 2.13 from 37.92 in the
music group and rose by 0.71 in the control group. Depression was measured
by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, which ranges from zero to 30. The
music group reported an average level of 12.11 before the study and a reduction
of 1.84 at the end of the two-week period. The score was almost constant
in the control group. Professor Chen said: 'The music group showed significant
reductions in stress, anxiety and depression after just two weeks.' Where
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