Music and Pregnancy: Benefits for mother and baby

• Singing lullabies to your baby is one of the most natural things a mother does. However, sometimes, people tend to underestimate the power of simple things. In this case, the research is there: singing to your baby, both before and after birth, creates a bond that is the foundation of healthy relationships. Many new mothers are unsure about their mothering skills. With this CD, the mother can familiarize herself with many of the well-known, classic lullabies, sung by generations of mothers and grandmothers (and fathers, brothers, aunts and others!) and then sing them herself to her new baby. The CD can also be played for baby at other times just by itself. The research documents that lullabies:
• Create a sonic bond of love and caring, even before birth
• Ensure that baby comes into world knowing mother's voice and associating that with being loved and cared for
• With preemies, this is even more critical. Amazingly, when Mom sings to baby the effect is:
• Stabilized blood pressure
• Stabilized body temperature
• Stabilized pulse and heart rate
  Resulting in:
• Less time in NICU
• Faster weight gain
• Healthier baby at discharge from NICU
  
  After childbirth, these same lullabies will provide comfort and oftentimes instantaneous quieting of fussy and fretting babies. What could be easier? Go HERE to buy my CD of famous and famliar lullabies which you can learn just by listening to these simple melodies for a few minutes each evening.
  
  

Taking Care of a Preemie

Having a tiny preemie can be daunting for the bravest of souls. No doubt about it! Rarely do people know that they will give birth to a preemie therefore most people are in quite a state of shock when they go into labor early and deliver a tiny little bundle of love that can be held in one hand easily.
Today there is a lot more medical information on caring for preemies than ever before. My suggestions is to hold this baby and sing to her as often as you can. Depending on what else is going on, you might not be allowed to hold the baby more than a few minutes at a time. In those precious moments, do some soft singing, humming or crooning to your sweet preemie.

When can my baby hear?

Just a few weeks ago I spoke at a major Southern university on "The Healing Power of Music." This was a fairly general lecture covering the many benefits of music in a healthcare setting. Since pregnant women and babies are a priority of mine I went into som detail about the importance of singing to your unborn child from the second trimester on. There were a fair number of medical professionals in the audience and one physician told me afterwards that he was not aware that the developing fetus could hear outside sounds so clearly from the 4-5 month gestation.

Those of us that are sound healers, women who sing lullabies and anyone who loves babies makes it their business to know these things but sometimes we have to educate our doctors and that's OK. Just be sure to pass along important and accurate information! Happy singing!

You are singing to your tummy,aren't you??

The world will always have pregnant women, thank goodness!!! And I believe that instinctively, women feel the urge to softly sing or hum when they're pregnant as they move through their days, weeks and months of having a little angel growing inside. The instinct has now been scientifically documented to be a good thing. Let me explain: The growing infant's ear becomes functional as early as the beginning of the second trimester! When baby hears Mama singing or humming, she automatically associates this with comfort, nurturing, safety, and love. If you're singing or humming on a daily basis for most of the pregnancy then these same tunes and songs are going to be an immediate "calmer" for your baby. Once born, if you sing to baby softly while nursing her it will be yet another calming and loving association. Have you tried this? If so, please share your experiences with us!