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Does music during labor affect mode of delivery in first labor after epidural anesthesia? A prospective study

  • Maternal-Fetal Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Key message

Listening to music during labor increases the likelihood that primiparas will have a spontaneous vaginal delivery.

Purpose

To examine the effects of exposure to music during labor on the mode of delivery and parturients’ stress levels.

Methods

This prospective, interventional study included 124 low-risk women who were recruited during latent phase of their first labor after epidural anesthesia. Patients were grouped according to their preference to receive music intervention or not. The music intervention included two subgroups: soft classical music and rhythmic music. We evaluated cortisol levels in saliva as a surrogate for stress level and State-Trait Personality Inventory at enrollment and 1–3 h later in all women who were still in labor. Delivery and perinatal outcomes were collected from electronic medical records. Correlations between the music intervention and maternal and perinatal outcomes were evaluated.

Results

Spontaneous vaginal delivery was significantly more frequent among women listening to music compared to the non-music group (P = 0.035). A trend towards lower rates of cesarean delivery was noted in the music group (P = 0.08), with no difference in instrumental vaginal delivery rates. Stress levels, as measured by questionnaires and by cortisol levels, blood pressure and pulse rate, remained similar throughout the study. No differences were noted between the different genres of music when examining obstetric and perinatal outcomes and stress levels.

Conclusion

Listening to music during labor, improves the likelihood of primiparas to have a vaginal delivery regardless of stress level. As this treatment is simple, easy, and harmless to administer, we suggest it may be offered to all patients during labor.

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Abbreviations

STPI:

State-Trait Personality Inventory

SVD:

Spontaneous vaginal delivery

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Funding

This study was not funded.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Yael Pasternak and Netanella Miller contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meir Medical Center, 59 Tchernichovsky St, Kfar Saba, Israel

    Yael Pasternak, Netanella Miller, Aula Asali, Yael Yagur, Omer Weitzner, Maya Nimrodi, Arie Berkovitz & Tal Biron-Shental

  2. Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Yael Pasternak, Netanella Miller, Aula Asali, Yael Yagur, Omer Weitzner, Yehonatan Pasternak, Arie Berkovitz & Tal Biron-Shental

  3. Department of Pediatrics A, Schneider Children’s Medical Center, Petach Tikva, Israel

    Yehonatan Pasternak

Authors
  1. Yael Pasternak
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  2. Netanella Miller
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  3. Aula Asali
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  4. Yael Yagur
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  7. Yehonatan Pasternak
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  8. Arie Berkovitz
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  9. Tal Biron-Shental
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Contributions

YP contributed to the study design, patient recruitment, data acquisition and interpretation and drafting of the manuscript. NM contributed to the conception and design of the study, patient recruitment, data acquisition and interpretation and revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. As well, she approved the version of the manuscript submitted. AA took a part in the design of the study, recruited patients to the study, revised it critically for important intellectual content. YY took a part in the design of the study, recruited patients to the study, revised it critically for important intellectual content. OW took part in the design of the study, recruited patients to the study, revised it critically for important intellectual content. MN contributed to data acquisition and analysis, revised it critically for important intellectual content. YP contributed by analyzing and interpreting the data and by revising the draft critically for important intellectual content. AB contributed to the analysis of the data, revised it critically for important intellectual content. TB-S contributed to the study design, and by revising the work critically for important intellectual content. All authors gave final approval of the version submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yael Pasternak.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee (Approval No. 0198-17-MMC).

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Pasternak, Y., Miller, N., Asali, A. et al. Does music during labor affect mode of delivery in first labor after epidural anesthesia? A prospective study. Arch Gynecol Obstet 300, 1239–1244 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-019-05310-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-019-05310-w

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