A scoping review into music listening to support antepartum and intrapartum maternal well-being

A growing body of research supports the use of music listening for well-being. Our scoping review explores the role of music listening in enhancing maternal well-being throughout the prenatal and labour stages. We examined music listening specifically because it is a highly accessible component of musical care, making it a resource that is embedded in everyday life and one that expectant mothers can conveniently employ, regardless of location or time constraints. In undertaking this review, we aimed to (1) consolidate evidence-based knowledge on the role of music listening for maternal well-being prenatally and during birth, and (2) examine the features of the music resources used in the published research. Following PRISMA guidelines for Scoping Reviews, a database search using three search terms (versions of music, listen* and prenatal or birth) resulted in analysing 55 articles. Thematic analysis identified the well-being benefits of music listening during pregnancy (three sub-themes: psychological well-being, attachment, and physiological well-being) and birth (three sub-themes: pain management, psychological well-being, and labour progression). During pregnancy, music listening significantly improves psychological well-being, fosters maternal-foetal attachment, and improves physiological well-being (e.g., sleep, blood pressure, heart rate). During labour, music listening significantly reduces labour duration and pain, accelerates labour progression, increases the likelihood of vaginal delivery. Details about the music were often missing; however, when provided, most studies implemented a single session lasting 15-30-minutes with experimenter-selected music. These findings have implications for using music listening as an accessible, low-cost, non-pharmacological, evidence-based tool to support maternal well-being.

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Music and Parental Wellbeing Symposium

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