Playing classical music to babies inside the womb stimulates their development, study reveals

Playing classical music to babies inside the womb can stimulate their development, new research suggests.

Music has long been a way for expectant parents to connect with their unborn children.

Now scientists have found evidence that classical music can calm the heart rate of unborn babies, potentially providing developmental benefits.

A research team in Mexico studied the effect of classical music on a foetal heartbeat.

They used mathematical analysis tools to identify patterns in heart rate variability.

Typical measures of heart rate are an average of several beats across multiple seconds.

In contrast, heart rate variability measures the time between individual beats.

The research team explained that the measure can provide insight into the maturation of the foetal autonomic nervous system, with greater variability often indicating healthy development.

Study co-author Dr Claudia Lerma, of the National Institute of Cardiology in Mexico, said: ‘Overall, we discovered that exposure to music resulted in more stable and predictable foetal heart rate patterns.

‘We speculate that this momentary effect could stimulate the development of the foetal autonomic nervous system.’

The research team say that classical music could help promote foetal development for expectant parents at home.

Prof Abarca-Castro said: ‘Our results suggest that these changes in foetal heart rate dynamics occur instantly in short-term fluctuations, so parents might want to consider exposing their foetuses to quiet music.

‘Parents who play soothing music may stimulate and benefit the foetal autonomic system.’

To test the effects music can have on foetal heart rate, the team recruited 36 pregnant women and played a pair of classical pieces for their unborn babies.

For the experiment, they chose ‘The Swan’ by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, and ‘Arpa de Oro’ by Mexican composer Abundio Martínez.

By attaching external heart rate monitors, the research team could measure the foetal heart rate response to both songs.

And, by employing nonlinear recurrence quantification analysis, they could identify changes in heart rate variability during and after the music was played.

As well as the overall effects of playing music, the researchers also looked at the differences between the two classical pieces.

While both were effective, they found that the Mexican guitar melody had a stronger effect.

Study co-author Professor Eric Alonso Abarca-Castro, of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, said: ‘When contrasting The Swan with Arpa de Oro, we did notice some significant differences.

‘In particular, the second piece appeared to have a stronger impact on some measures, indicating that it produced heart rate patterns that were more predictable and regular.

‘Factors like rhythmic characteristics, melodic structure, or cultural familiarity may be linked to this differentiation.’

The research team is now looking at the effects of different genres and types of music.

Co-author Dr José Javier Reyes-Lagos added: ‘To ascertain whether rhythmic or cultural variations elicit distinct foetal cardiac responses, we intend to increase the size of our sample and expand our investigation to include a variety of musical styles beyond classical pieces.’

The research was published in Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science.