Maternal voice and its influence on stress and sleep

Introduction: Several developmental care programmes in NICU have been created to minimize the consequences of prematurity and to promote preterm infant’s neurobehavioral and brain development. The foetus in the womb relies on the organic structure of the rhythms of mother’s heart, her breath patterns and overtone vibrations of her “voice-supported” organizational development. Preterm birth interrupts the dialog between mother and foetus: changes of the sensory inputs and mother-driven environmental enrichment at this stage deeply affect the brain development and the stress regulation. Main aims of the chapter: We wonder if vocal intervention is associated to increased neuro-vegetative stability. Birth and neonatal adaptation to the extrauterine environment is terribly stressful, and early interventions should aim to stabilize neuro-vegetative functions from the delivery room and later on during the hospitalization. Early vocal contact (EVC), a specific form of acoustical intervention, seems to be able to reassure and stabilize the autonomic function of the baby. EVC appears to facilitate sleep and organization of behavioural states and the maturation of the autonomic nervous system. Conclusions: Intrauterine environment should be taken into account to tailor possible interventions for prematurity. Future work should aim to find simple and easy implement tools to assess and measure sleep and physiological stability (vagal tone) of the newborn. In this prospective, maternal vocal intervention may play a fundamental role in supporting and integrating neonatal clinical care.