Music During a Ceasarean Birth

This is a very interesting study looking at the use of music during a Ceasarean birth.  Sometimes C-sections are scheduled in advance because of known problems and sometimes they become suddenly necessary because mother or baby is endangered.  Having your programmed iPod or headphones with you is a really good idea no matter you plan to deliver your baby!

BACKGROUND: Evidence on the benefits of music during caesarean section under regional anaesthesia to improve clinical and psychological outcomes for mothers and infants has not been established.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of music during caesarean section under regional anaesthesia for improving clinical and psychological outcomes for mothers and infants.

SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (30 September 2008).

SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials comparing music added to standard care during caesarean section under regional anaesthesia to standard care alone.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors, Malinee Laopaiboon and Ruth Martis, independently assessed eligibility, risk of bias in included trials and extracted data. We analysed continuous outcomes using a mean difference (MD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). MAIN RESULTS: One trial involving 76 women who planned to have their babies delivered by caesarean section met the inclusion criteria, but data were available for only 64 women. This trial was of low quality with unclear allocation concealment and only a few main clinical outcomes reported for the women. The trial did not report any infant outcomes. It appears that music added to standard care during caesarean section under regional anaesthesia had some impact on pulse rate at the end of maternal contact with the neonate in the intra-operative period (MD -7.50 fewer beats per minute, 95% CI -14.08 to -0.92) and after completion of skin suture for the caesarean section (MD -7.37 fewer beats per minute, 95% CI -13.37 to -1.37). There was also an improvement in the birth satisfaction score (maximum possible score of 35) (MD of 3.38, 95%CI 1.59 to 5.17). Effects on other outcomes were either not significant or not reported in the one included trial.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that music during planned caesarean section under regional anaesthesia may improve pulse rate and birth satisfaction score. However, the magnitude of these benefits is small and the methodological quality of the one included trial is questionable. Therefore, the clinical significance of music is unclear. More research is needed to investigate the effects of music during caesarean section under regional anaesthesia on both maternal and infant outcomes, in various ethnic pregnant women, and with adequate sample sizes.