NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A NICU music therapist started The Lullaby Project to raise funds for music equipment in each of the 60 NICU beds at TriStar Centennial Women's Hospital.
"We use music to soothe and to calm the infant. A lot of the times we find the baby in a state of dysregulation where they may have elevated heart rate, elevated respiration rate and so we're using the music to promote stable physiological parameters. We'll usually see a decrease in the heart rate and a decrease in the respiration rate," explained Music Therapist and Belmont University Associate Professor of Music Therapy Alejandra Ferrer.
After taking her students to TriStar Centennial's NICU during the past two semesters, she decided to start The Lullaby Project.
"We were here and repeatedly, you know, we would see babies listening to music on cell phones," recounted Ferrer. "So we thought we can we can do something for them. We can do better and so we wanted to get MP3 players where we could regulate the volume of the music we could regulate the length of time that the music plays and we wanted to ensure, again that the music followed specific criteria of music that is considered safe and effective for NICU babies. And so we recorded the music using all of those guidelines."
The criteria for appropriate music for NICU babies is something Ferrer teaches her students.
"One of the things that they learn is what is developmentally appropriate music for infants in the NICU, what is appropriate instrumentation, appropriate tempo, appropriate volume, and they get to see it here [in the hospital]," explained Ferrer. "They get to see it play out and they get to see the tremendous benefits of using these appropriate lullabies with the infants."
Ferrer said there are only about 170 music therapists in Tennessee—and even fewer are qualified to work in NICUs.
She said she hopes the project will raise enough to put speakers and an MP3 player in each of the 60 NICU beds at TriStar Centennial so that the babies can have some music therapy when she cannot be there.
"While music is very, very powerful and very therapeutic, it also has to follow specific criteria for it to be safe and effective," explained Ferrer. "It's not just 'let's play any type of music for our preemies.' You know, 'whatever volume I think,' but rather, what does the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest and for how long and what type of music."
To donate to The Lullaby Project, visit her fundraiser page.
