Music During Labor and Delivery: Randomized Controlled Trial

The use of music is widely supported in various areas of medicine: first of all in the psychiatric field as in the treatment of autism in children, obtaining surprising results even on Alzheimer's patients, or the unparalleled effect of music on those suffering from depression. To strengthen the thesis of the usefulness of music in medicine there is what is called PNEI, or the psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology. This discipline consists in the study of mutual interactions between mental activity, behavior, nervous system, endocrine system and immune reactivity. The PNEI itself no longer pays attention to the mind with respect to the body, but using the principles of the empirical epistemology of the scientific method strives to clarify those connections that make the nervous system, mind, immunity and hormonal regulation a unique and complex homeostatic control system of the individual, whose synergism would be able to modify certain biological behaviors, such as the transition from a distress to an eustress. This passage would seem to be of particular obstetric interest going to significantly change the course of labor in terms of pain, anxiety and well-being of women. In fact, many women prefer not to resort to partoanalgesia and famaci for pain control during labor.

A recent Cochrane Review analyzed the effectiveness of music in the control of pain in labor, confirming its role in this sense. However, he concluded that the quality of available evidence varied from low to very low, thus highlighting the need for further studies in this area.

Thus, the present study arises with the rational to satisfy this need for further investigation into the positive effects of music on pain in women in labor.