Music Therapy on Anxiety, Stress and Maternal-fetal Attachment in Pregnant Women During Transvaginal Ultrasound

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of music therapy on anxiety, stress and maternal-fetal attachment in pregnant women during a transvaginal ultrasound. This study was a nonequivalent control group nonsynchronized design. Pregnant women (n =232) were assigned to experimental (n= 117) and control (n =116) groups respectively. The data were collected from August 2 to 27, 2010. The experimental group received general prenatal care and single 30-minute session of music therapy, while the control group received only general prenatal care. Anxiety, stress, and maternal-fetal attachment was assessed using three self-report measures by State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (1976), Pregnant women's stress scale of Ahn (1984) and Cranley's (1981) maternal-fetal attachment scale. The music therapy group showed statistically significant decrease in anxiety compared to control group but no significant difference was identified in stress and maternal-fetal attachment. The finding provides evidence for use of nursing intervention in prenatal care unit to reduce pregnant women's anxiety. Further research is necessary to test the benefits of music therapy with different frequency and duration.