Effect of the sound of the mother’s heartbeat combined with white noise on heart rate, weight, and sleep in premature infants: a retrospective comparative cohort study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The neonate intensive care unit (NICU) is a high-stress environment can affect the hormone secretion, cardiopulmonary function, sleep/wake cycle, alertness, temperature regulation, and intellectual development of premature infants. It is not conducive to their recovery, growth, and development. The sound of the mother's heartbeat and white noise can stabilize the heart rate and respiration of premature infants and alleviate pain. This study aims to analyze the effects of the sound of the mother's heartbeat combined with white noise on the heart rate, weight, and sleep status of premature infants in the NICU. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 121 premature infants admitted to the Newborn Department of Suzhou Kowloon Hospital from January 2019 to December 2021. The infants were divided into an intervention group (those given the mother's heartbeat sound combined with white noise) and a control group (routine treatment and nursing); the heart rate, sleep state, weight and weight gain rate of the two groups were compared before and after the intervention. RESULTS: The heart rate and behavioral status scores of the intervention group during the intervention (10, 20 min) and 1 min after the intervention were significantly lower than 1 min before the intervention (P<0.05). The intervention group's weight was significantly higher than the control group's on the 14th day after intervention (P<0.05), and the rate of weight gain was faster than that of the control group (P<0.05). The average daily milk intake of the intervention group in the first and second weeks was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that the rate of weight gain in the intervention group was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The combination of the auditory stimulation of the mother's heartbeat and white noise for premature infants in NICU can effectively reduce the heart rate of premature infants, stabilize their mood, promote their sleep, increase the amount of milk consumption during hospitalization, increase the rate of weight gain, and promote their physical development.