Trial reportArchives of gynecology and obstetrics2021
The effects of a music and singing intervention during pregnancy on maternal well-being and mother-infant bonding: a randomised, controlled study.
Trial report in Archives of gynecology and obstetrics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06970886 (Effects of Rhythm-Based Music on Anxiety, Glucose, and Cortisol in Pregnancies With Gestational Diabetes), which is not on this map. Cited by 37 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effects of Rhythm-Based Music on Anxiety, Glucose, and Cortisol in Pregnancies With Gestational Diabetes
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of Nonpharmacological Interventions on Stress, Anxiety, and Depression of Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Worldviews on evidence-based nursing · 2025Pooled it
- Music's context-dependent influence on oxytocin, social bonding, and emotion regulation: a systematic review.Frontiers in cognition · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of Singing on Symptoms in Stable COPD: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of music on pain, anxiety and satisfaction during nonstress testing.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2025Trial
- The influence of maternal singing on well-being, postpartum depression and bonding - a randomised, controlled trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2021Trial
- Mapping What Works to Strengthen the Relational Ecology of Early Child Development: A Systematic Scoping Review.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2026Article
- Humming and Homeostasis: Insights from Infants, Mothers, Mantras and Caregiving.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Review
- Optimizing Non-Pharmacological Support for Perinatal Mental Health: A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis of Intervention Effects by Pregnancy/Postpartum Stage.Current psychiatry reports · 2026Review
- Effectiveness of the Web-Based Support Program Based on the Health Promotion Model in Pregnant Women with Preeclampsia.Maternal and child health journal · 2026Article
- Review
- The association pathway between music practice and mental health: a study on social connectedness, perceived stress, and anxiety among individuals with piano experience.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Community health intervention through musical engagement (CHIME) in South Africa: A formative exploration of the feasibility and development of a music-based intervention to support perinatal mental health.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- A developmental framework of interpersonal neural synchrony.Developmental review : DR · 2025Article
- Co-designing and evaluating a prenatal yoga intervention for ethnic minority women: a feasibility study.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Effect of ethnic origin and newborn gender on mother-infant bonding.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2025Article
- Parental singing during kangaroo care: parents' experiences of singing to their preterm infant in the NICU.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Music for displaced dyads: a mixed methods feasibility study on the impact of music therapy on the mental health and wellbeing of Ukrainian refugee families.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Exploring shared and unique benefits of passive and active prenatal intervention protocols on maternal wellbeing and neonatal outcomes: a combined quali-quantitative approach.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Music medicine and music therapy in neonatal care: a scoping review of passive music listening research applications and findings on infant development and medical practice.BMC pediatrics · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeStress and impaired mother-infant bonding during pregnancy can lead to adverse effects for the expectant mother and the unborn child. The present study investigates whether a prenatal music and singing intervention can improve maternal well-being as well as mother-infant bonding.
methodsA total of 172 pregnant women took part in this prospective, randomised, three-armed (music, singing or control group) study. Depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, maternal well-being and mother-infant bonding were assessed with visual analogue scales and questionnaires before the intervention phase (30th week of gestation) and afterwards (36th week of gestation). Additionally, immediate changes regarding experienced stress and mood from before until after the music and singing interventions were explored with questionnaires as well as saliva samples (for cortisol, alpha-amylase and oxytocin determination).
resultsRegarding immediate effects, both interventions showed positive effects on the emotional state, stress (cortisol) and bonding (oxytocin). Additionally, the singing group showed a larger reduction in cortisol and a larger improvement in valence than the music group. Looking at more prolonged effects, significant effects on general self-efficacy and perceived closeness to the unborn child (measured with a visual analogue scale) were found. No significant effects were revealed for the mother-infant bonding questionnaire and for depressive symptoms.
conclusionIn the present study, promising effects of music and in particular singing on maternal well-being and perceived closeness during pregnancy appeared. Prenatal music and singing interventions could be an easy to implement and effective addition to improve mood and well-being of the expectant mother and support mother-infant bonding. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: DRKS00012822, date of registration: 17.10.2017.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.