Asian Nurs Res.  2011 Mar;5(1):19-27.

Music Therapy on Anxiety, Stress and Maternal-fetal Attachment in Pregnant Women During Transvaginal Ultrasound

• Shin HS
• Kim JH

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of music therapy on anxiety, stress and maternal-fetal attachment in pregnant women during a transvaginal ultrasound.
METHODS
This study was a nonequivalent control group nonsynchronized design. Pregnant women (n = 232) were assigned to experimental (n = 117) and control (n = 116) groups respectively. The data were collected from August 2 to 27, 2010. The experimental group received general prenatal care and single 30-minute session of music therapy, while the control group received only general prenatal care. Anxiety, stress, and maternal-fetal attachment was assessed using three self-report measures by State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (1976), Pregnant women's stress scale of Ahn (1984) and Cranley's (1981) maternal-fetal attachment scale.
RESULTS
The music therapy group showed statistically significant decrease in anxiety compared to control group but no significant difference was identified in stress and maternal-fetal attachment.
CONCLUSIONS
The finding provides evidence for use of nursing intervention in prenatal care unit to reduce pregnant women's anxiety. Further research is necessary to test the benefits of music therapy with different frequency and duration.

Keyword

anxiety; attachment; music therapy; pregnant stress; ultrasound

MeSH Terms

Anxiety
Female
Humans
Music
Music Therapy
Pregnant Women
Prenatal Care