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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Pediatric Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1536646
This article is part of the Research Topic Psychological Implications of Preterm Birth View all 11 articles

Maternal singing and speech have beneficial effects on preterm infant's General Movements at term equivalent age and at 3 months: an RCT

Provisionally accepted
Manuela Filippa Manuela Filippa 1*Gianluca Filippa Gianluca Filippa 2Elisa Della Casa Elisa Della Casa 3ALBERTO BERARDI ALBERTO BERARDI 3Odoardo Picciolini Odoardo Picciolini 4Sara Chiara Meloni Sara Chiara Meloni 4Clara Lunardi Clara Lunardi 5Alessandra Sansavini Alessandra Sansavini 6Alessandra Cecchi Alessandra Cecchi 7Luigi Corvaglia Luigi Corvaglia 6,8Didier Grandjean Didier Grandjean 1Fabrizio Ferrari Fabrizio Ferrari 3
  • 1 University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
  • 2 Independent Researcher, AOSTA, Italy
  • 3 University Hospital of Modena, Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
  • 4 IRCCS Ca 'Granda Foundation Maggiore Policlinico Hospital, Milan, Lombardy, Italy
  • 5 Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Tuscany, Italy
  • 6 University of Bologna, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
  • 7 University of Florence, Florence, Tuscany, Italy
  • 8 IRCCS University Hospital of Bologna Sant Orsola Polyclinic, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: General Movements (GMs) are part of the spontaneous movement repertoire and assessing them helps to determine the integrity of the central nervous system in newborns. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of maternal singing and speaking in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on preterm infants' GMs at term equivalent age and at 3 months. Methods: In this multi-center randomized clinical trial, 56 stable preterm infants (25-32 weeks) were randomized to either an intervention group -in which mothers were asked to speak and sing to their infants for 20 minutes, 3 times per week, for 2 weeks -or to a control group. GMs were recorded both before and after the intervention -which took place at term equivalent age -and again at 3 months corrected age. The GMs were blindly coded based on the muted video tracks to produce both a general score and a detailed score. Results: Before the intervention, there were no significant differences between the two groups. The intervention wielded a significant effect on the GMs general score (p<0.05). The effect was also marginally significant for the GMs detailed score (p=0.06). To avoid influencing outcomes, future research should control for differences in maternal engagement outside of the intervention. Conclusions: Live maternal singing and speaking are fundamental human practices that, in this study, enhanced preterm infants' general movements and potentially supported their neurobehavioral development. Integrating and supporting early vocal interaction into routine NICU care is crucial for at-risk populations.

    Keywords: prematurity, Maternal voice, General movements, Early Intervention, Sensorimotor System

    Received: 29 Nov 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Filippa, Filippa, Della Casa, BERARDI, Picciolini, Meloni, Lunardi, Sansavini, Cecchi, Corvaglia, Grandjean and Ferrari. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Manuela Filippa, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

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