The effect of contingent music to increase non-nutritive sucking of premature infants

Abstract

This study assessed music as reinforcement for non-nutritive sucking of 12 premature infants born at an average gestation of 29.3 weeks and an average birthweight of 1111.9 g. At the time of the study, the infants' average post conception age was 35.5 weeks, and their average weight was 1747.3 g. A pacifier was fitted with a pressure transducer so that a sufficient suck activated frequency and duration signals as well as 10 seconds of recorded music consisting of lullabies sung by female vocalists. A 14-minute ABAB study design included a silence baseline for 2 minutes, 5 minutes of contingent music, 2 minutes of silence, and 5 minutes of contingent music. Frequency data were recorded for each 5-second interval in which the duration light was activated for at least 3 seconds. Results demonstrated that sucking rates during the periods of contingent music were 2.43 times greater than baseline (silence) sucking rates. In this study, music contributed significantly to the development of non-nutritive sucking of premature infants.