Mother Providing Recorded Voice to Her Preterm Infant in Incubator Improves Her Own Grief and Emotional Status

Background Information and Scientific Rationale The AdventHealth Orlando NICU is the first U.S. hospital to utilize the Babyleo in a clinical setting. Personnel were trained by Dräger representatives and the units have been in use for over 2 years. During that time, personnel have not used the Audio Port, located on the back of the bed. The Audio Port allows sound to be played inside the incubator at no more than 55 dB, which is within the guidelines set forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics for the target population of this project.

The early birth of a premature baby can be a devastating and unplanned situation for parents. Often, their baby cannot be readily held; they can be very sick and fragile. Parents can feel helpless; bonding may be more difficult, parental control is superseded by medical necessity and parents can feel tremendous guilt whenever they are unable to be present at their baby's bedside.

The investigators will attempt to provide some comfort and control to the parents of premature infants by implementing this project. Research has shown that when used appropriately in the premature to term infant population, specific sounds can result in "a shorter hospital stay, improved feeding skills, improved behavior state and improved physiological status".

The investigators believe that giving parents an opportunity to provide comfort in the form of the mother's voice, pre-recorded and played to her baby, will improve her feeling about her baby in the NICU. As the process of recording the mother's voice will be aided by trained Music Therapists, parents will also gain knowledge about developmentally appropriate methods of interacting with their infant.

Consideration also needs to be given to staff education. It has long been ingrained in staff that "noise" for the premature infant is undesirable and upsetting to their immature nervous system. While this can be true, studies have shown that appropriate sounds, introduced at the right time, can aid in brain development and the later acquisition of language. Babies do not necessarily need to live in a sound-free environment; in the womb, they are continually exposed to sound. However, staff are very protective of keeping premature infants from becoming stressed, and so the mention of introducing sound into their quiet incubator causes a great deal of consternation. Detailed explanation and staff buy-in will be very important for this study.