Music for tinies

Music can soothe premature babies and help the development of their brains. This is something Friederike Haslbeck experiences on a daily basis in her work as a music therapist at University Hospital Zurich. She now wants to run a study taking a thorough scientific look at the effects of the therapy.

Support this project today →

Noah* was too early. He came into the world after only 25 weeks of pregnancy. To assure his survival he had to spend the first three months of his life in the neonatal intensive care unit at University Hospital Zurich. Every year, some 15 million children are born prematurely around the world. Despite intensive care, they often suffer health repercussions their whole life long. It’s a traumatic experience for a baby to be separated from its mother. Premature babies often experience impaired brain development and later have learning difficulties, language impairments, and depression.

So far there have been few approaches to protecting the development of children born prematurely. One exception is creative music therapy. This was something Noah also got to experience in his three months at USZ. Twice a week he received a visit from music therapist Friederike Haslbeck, who also involved his parents. Together they would hum, sing, and play a stringed instrument for the infant.

Noah’s mother, Verena Vogt, is convinced this did all of them good. “I could sense the way the music reduced Noah’s stress and helped his breathing relax. For us as parents, the music therapy alleviated some of the helplessness we were feeling. We could contribute to something that was doing our child good.”

So far there have been few studies investigating the effects of music therapy on children born prematurely. But the results that have emerged clearly show that music calms infants, activates various areas of their brain, and strengthens the connections between neural networks. Friederike Haslbeck is one of the pioneers in music therapy for premature infants. The plan is for her to head a study that will for the first time investigate the effects on a comparative basis internationally. “If the findings are positive, it will help establish music therapy as a standard therapy in neonatology,” says Haslbeck.

The USZ Foundation is now looking for donors to fund the study – so that even more children like Noah can experience the healing effects of music in the first few crucial weeks of their life. Verena Vogt is convinced that the music therapy has had an effect: “Noah, now a year and a half old, is an alert and cheerful child. He loves music and began to sing even before he could speak.”

*anonymized/symbolic image

60% financed

Geneva University Hospitals (co-project manager)
University Children’s Hospital (co-project manager)
Seven further hospitals in Switzerland and three abroad

Anna Mueller Grocholski-Stiftung
Eduard Aeberhardt-Stiftung
Egon-und-Ingrid-Hug-Stiftung
Fagus lucida-Stiftung
Monsol Foundation