“The mother wrote a lullaby, which will be used on the pacifier activated lullaby (PAL) device when her baby is born and transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit,” explains Chelsea Brown, a music therapist intern in the maternity and NICU at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. “I think the continuity of care is really important to our moms here. They know their voice will be used with their baby on the PAL, and they know that their song will be sung to their baby. I see antepartum patients who may be hospitalized prior to birth due to medical complications, patients in early labor, patients postnatally after giving birth. Any mom who’s baby is transferred to the NICU gets offered music therapy for their baby as well. Then the patients know there’s an extra pair of music therapist eyes providing continued stress management and emotional support even after the mom gets discharged and their baby is still here.”

Tags: featured, music therapy, neonatal intensive care unit, NICU, pacifier activated lullaby device, PAL device, Pediatrics, UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital