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30/10/2013

Lullabies 'Ease Pain In Children'

A new study has claimed lullabies can help ease children's pain.

The research, which was carried out at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital by Dr Nick Pickett, found that heart rates fell and children who were waiting for heart transplants, as well as babies less than a week old, were in visibly less pain when they heard lullabies.

The results also found that reading stories – along with pop-up pictures and animal sounds – had no effect, according to the journal Psychology of Music.

Researcher Dr Nick Pickett, who has provided music therapy at the hospital for two decades, said: "Parents have been singing to their children for thousands of years and they have always instinctively known that it helps their children relax – but it is exciting to have some scientific evidence that lullabies offer genuine health benefits for the child."

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As part of the study, Dr Pickett sang a selection of lullabies to 37 patients at Great Ormond Street Hospital, monitoring their heart rate and signs of pain – such as crying, grimacing and squirming – as he did so. This was repeated when the babies and toddlers were read to, and when they were left to sit quietly. The results showed that only the lullabies reduced the infants' heart rate and the amount of pain they were in.

It is thought the calming tones ease pain by distracting the children from their illness.

Pickett added that live music is also more likely to be better at easing pain than recordings.

He explained: "Babies and young children respond to the singer's voice first and instruments second.

"More than one instrument can actually become quite confusing and less effective.

"Facial expressions and visual stimulation during the performance of a lullaby are just as important and live performance allows the adult to adapt their singing depending on the child's mood."

(JP/IT)

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"A new study has claimed lullabies can help ease children's pain."