Benefits Of Music Therapy During Pregnancy

When you hear the term “music therapy” during pregnancy, most people think that it refers to using certain types of music to change a person’s mood. But the World Federation of Music Therapy provides a more precise definition.

Music therapy is the use of music and its components to facilitate the patient’s learning and to help him relate to his surroundings.

Music therapy works as a type of treatment that aims to restore a person’s health and quality of life. In other words, it is helpful as a tool for rehabilitation.

Who is Rolando Benenzon?

Rolando Benenzon is an Argentine psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, pianist, musician and even composer. He is also the founder of music therapy studies at the University of San Salvador in Buenos Aires.

He has published a number of articles on music therapy.

Benenzon is the most recognized professional in the world who uses music therapy for patients with autism, with comatose condition and also in the field of vocational training.

Benenzon and music therapy

According to Dr. Benenzon music therapy is not just about a patient who passively listens to one kind of music or another. The therapy is much more interactive and depends on a strong relationship between the therapist and the patient.

Music therapy contains a wide range of sources for sound, movement, music and even the body itself. These are several measures that benefit a person’s integration into their society and the development of learning processes.

Sound identity

Sound identity can sound like a pretty abstract idea. But the following statement from Benenzon – its creator – can help shed light on the subject:

In other words, sound identity is about what a person’s senses can take in.

Mainly sounds, but also silences, smells and other smells, textures, temperatures and all kinds of sensations that are difficult to recognize but that separate an individual from the rest.

Static sound identity is the individual’s independence. In other words, it is what characterizes the individual and makes him or her different. It accumulates genetically inherited sound energies in the person’s subconscious.

It is the energies that radiate during conception and pregnancy and that change according to their social environment.

Sound during pregnancy

The sounds that occur during conception and that are part of a person’s Gestalt sound identity give an impression on the individual.

The flow of the mother’s blood through the walls of the uterus, the heartbeat, the sound of her breathing as she breathes in and out… And of course the sounds produced by digestion – especially in the intestines.

All these sounds are a form of communication between the mother and her baby.

The mother’s heartbeat is the sound that gives the greatest possible satisfaction. This is because it represents oxygen, nutrition and warmth for the baby.

The mother’s voice is also extremely important and meaningful in the formation of a Gestalt sound identity. The stimulation it provides for the growing fetus is twofold. The child can hear her voice and also feel the vibration.

Hearing is the mind that most connects the fetus to the outside world. Some studies suggest that unborn babies respond to certain auditory stimuli when they begin to recognize them.

For example, when they hear a song that they recognize, they begin to suck, they open and close their eyelids, or their heart rate may increase.

Music therapy during pregnancy

Accompanied by a music therapist during pregnancy can give very positive results. There are many measures that can make every step of the pregnancy comfortable for the mother.

In addition, it also helps to create a bond between the parents and their children – in addition to the natural connection that already exists.

The first stimulus is for the mother. A music therapist can help reduce stress levels and other unpleasant feelings that the mother experiences in connection with pregnancy.

After 14 weeks, the fetus can hear the sounds produced in the womb. After another 6 weeks, the baby can even hear sounds from the outside world.

This is a period when the bond between the parents and their children can deepen and grow stronger.

The mother and the father’s voices and the lullabies that the child hears help to strengthen this bond. Therapy can also involve visualizing the child or other methods.

The goal of music therapy during pregnancy is to express love, acceptance, calm – feelings that will have a positive effect on the baby’s development.