Maternal Voice and Infant Sleep in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-13-2019
Department
Michigan Tech Research Institute
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Approximately 10% of US newborns require a NICU. We evaluated whether the NICU acoustic environment affects neonatal sleep and whether exposure to the mother's voice can modulate that impact.
METHODS: In a level IV NICU with single-infant rooms, 47 neonates underwent 12-hour polysomnography. Their mothers were recorded reading children's books. Continuous maternal voice playback was randomized to either the first or second 6 hours of the polysomnogram. Regression models were used to examine sleep-wake stages, entropy, EEG power, and the probability of awakening in response to ambient noise during and without voice playback.
RESULTS: After epochs with elevated noise, the probability was higher with (versus without) maternal voice exposure of neonates staying asleep (
CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalized newborns born at ≥35 weeks' gestation but not at 33 to 34 weeks' gestation show increasing wakefulness in response to their mother's voice. However, exposure to the mother's voice during sleep may also help protect newborns from awakening after bursts of loud hospital noise.
Publication Title
Pediatrics
Recommended Citation
Shellhaas, R.,
Burns, J. W.,
Barks, J.,
Hassan, F.,
&
Chervin, R.
(2019).
Maternal Voice and Infant Sleep in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit..
Pediatrics.
http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-0288
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/394
Publisher's Statement
© 2019 by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Publisher's version of record: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-0288