Effect of the Mother Storytelling Voice on Physiological Changes of Preterm Infants
Keywords:
Mother storytelling voice, Physiological changes, Preterm infantsAbstract
The extra-uterine environment leads to a great deal of adaptation for premature infants and affects their physiological changes. Maternal voice is one environmental factor that stabilizes infant physiology. This quasi-experimental study aimed to compare the average range of heart rate, breathing rate, and blood oxygen saturation levels in preterm infants before and after listening to their mother’s voice, and to compare the number of preterm infants whose heart rate, breathing rate, and blood oxygen saturation levels returned to the normal range between the control and experimental groups. Based on predefined purposive criteria, 32 preterm infants between 32-36+6 weeks of gestational age who had been admitted to the NICU of a tertiary-level hospital were chosen for this study. Sixteen of the infants were assigned to the control group whereas the other 16 were assigned to the experimental group. Research tools included: 1) a personal data record form, 2) a physiological changes record form, and 3) an audio tape of mother’s storytelling voice via MP3. All instruments underwent content validity and reliability testing. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way repeated measures analysis of variance, and Fisher's exact test.
Research results showed that the infants’ mean heart rates were significantly lower immediately after listening to their mother’s storytelling voice and five minutes after listening (p < .05), while the number of preterm infants with normal heart rates after listening to their mother’s storytelling voice for five minutes was significantly higher than that of infants who received usual nursing care (p < .05).
Recordings of the mother’s storytelling voice have been shown to be beneficial for stimulating the sensory systems of preterm infants. Therefore, nurses should encourage mothers of 32- 36+6 week gestational age infants to provide a storytelling recorder to enhance the physiological stability of their preterm infants during hospitalization.
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