Music therapy and Prenatal Stress Reduction: An Alternative Approach to Reduce the Perception of Stress for women with Uncomplicated and Low Risk Twin Pregnancies
Pregnancy, especially multiple gestations evokes a great deal of stress leading to probable consequences of depression, anxiety, and increased utilization of medical services (Andersson. Sundstrom-Poromaa, Wulff, Astrom. & Bixo. 2004). Early detection and appropriate interventions particularly with stress reduction have shown to be effective in reducing these adverse effects and improve pregnancy outcomes (Geller. 2004). The application of music therapy has been documented for its effect in the reduction of stress and pain during active labor (Phumdong & Good. 2003). In this pilot study, the author addresses the question: Does the use of music therapy reduce the perception of stress in women pregnant with uncomplicated low risk twins, increasing the chance for positive prenatal outcomes? Objectives: To evaluate the effects of soothing music as an alternative approach to reducing the perception of stress, and to increase the ability tor women with uncomplicated low risk twin pregnancies to manage their stress. Study Design: This was a longitudinal randomized case-control trial pilot study with sample pregnant women 18 years or older. These women had uncomplicated low risk twin pregnancies between 16 to 24 weeks of gestations. Consented participants were randomized to music therapy (MT) group (5) and control (CT1.) group (4). Perceived stress questionnaires (PS) and visual analog stress (VAS) measurements were study instruments for both groups. Data analyses were implemented with SPSS 10 software for Windows. Results: The data from the CTL group was eliminated because the group did not answer questions on the PS and VAS scales at week 4; therefore the group was unable to serve as a control comparison with the MT group. Although the pilot study sample was small (n = 5). there was an overall improvement of reduced stress and increased ability to control stress in the mean change of positive emotional response (21%) from the participants. The mean scores from all three of the VAS questions reflected individual participant had an overall decrease in perceived stress (15.45%) which correlated with the increased ability (12.50%) to manage stress using music therapy 4 times a week. Conclusion: Despite a small study sample and a result that was not statistically significant, the objective of this pilot study was met by indicating a clinical significance for women with uncomplicated low risk twin pregnancies using music therapy to reduce stress and to increase their abilities to manage stress. Music therapy is an inexpensive and non invasive approach for general stress reduction. Nurses can integrate music therapy with their prenatal care practice easily. Further research is also needed to replicate this study with larger sample sizes and to identify other benefiting variables that were not measured with this pilot.
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