Classical music can promote well-being of babies in the womb – study
A study proved that classical music can calm fetal heart rates, potentially promoting a baby’s healthy development in the womb.
Researcher Eric Alonso Abarca-Castro elaborated their findings with the website Debrief:
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“We speculate that prenatal auditory stimulation, such as exposure to calm, classical music, may contribute to the maturation of the baby’s nervous system.”
How does classical music affect fetal development?
Playing classical music to babies inside the womb can stimulate their development, study suggests https://t.co/EmwWE5DZwS pic.twitter.com/tDAh0fHbCi
— New York Post (@nypost) February 5, 2025
A group of researchers from the following institutions contributed to this study:
- Autonomous University of the State of Mexico
- Metropolitan Autonomous University
- General Hospital Nicolás San Juan
- National Institute of Cardiology Ignacio Chávez
They worked with 36 pregnant women and played two classical pieces for their fetuses:
- “The Swan” by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns
- “Arpa de Oro by Mexican composer Abundio Martínez
The researchers tracked their fetal heart rates to track how they responded to both songs.
Also, they used advanced analysis techniques to detect subtle changes in heart rate variability.
“We discovered that exposure to music resulted in more stable and predictable fetal heart rate patterns,” said Claudia Lerma from the National Institute of Cardiology Ignacio Chávez.
Then, the team examined the differences between the two pieces of classical music.
They discovered that the Mexican guitar melody had a stronger effect on infants.
“When contrasting ‘The Swan’ with ‘Arpa de Oro,’ we did notice some significant differences,” said author Eric Alonso Abarca-Castro.
“In particular, the second piece appeared to have a stronger impact on some measures, indicating that it produced heart rate patterns that were more predictable and regular.”
Nevertheless, the researchers recommended parents play classical music to promote healthy fetal development.
“Our results suggest that these changes in fetal heart rate dynamics occur instantly in short-term fluctuations…”
“… so parents might want to consider exposing their fetuses to quiet music.”
The researchers posted their findings in the journal Chaos.
Soon, they plan on testing other types of music to see if they yield similar results.
