Health

Music Therapy Helping Infants

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Studies have shown that music therapy can not only help soothe patients, but may also have health benefits.

Now one local hospital is using this unique new therapy to help the tiniest babies fight for survival.

Taylor Murray and his twin brother have been in the neonatal intensive care unit at Caritas St.Elizabeth's Medical Center since they were born at 30 weeks.

Taylor weighed in at just three pounds, three ounces, while his brother Trevor weighed four.

Their mother, Audra Murray explains, "He was struggling to breathe for about eight days."

The hospital has a music therapist who recently started playing for preemies like Taylor to help soothe the babies.

"There are always a lot of bells and whistles and they should be in an environment which is dark and quiet, so it's easy for them to be over stimulated," said Dr. Charles Anderson, the Director of Neonatal Intensive Care at Caritas St. Elizabeth's.

Parents like Audra Murray and the staff says the babies are really responding to the therapy.

"It's helping him to deal with all the stimulus and there's a lot of beeps, bells and whistles and nurses attending to them.. There is constant stimulus so it's overwhelming," said Murray.

"Infants are able to tolerate more touch without becoming stressed and able to feed better because they're relaxed because the music is soothing," said Linda LaSalle, the music therapist at the hospital.

Music therapy has also been shown to have benefits for a wide range of conditions including cancer, people with psychiatric problems, special needs and other developmental delays.

If you'd like more information, visit musictherapy.org

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