Reflective Lullaby Writing with two mother--infant dyads who recently experienced an admission to a neonatal intensive care unit

Introduction Having a premature baby is a complex experience for parents, especially where an admission to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after birth is required. Regardless of length of admission, parents likely confront mixed emotions related to their concerns for their baby's physical health and development, which are often still present in the months and years after their baby's discharge. Supporting parents to emotionally process their experience presents unique challenges, and a deeper understanding of how to facilitate this process is needed. Method The purpose of this research project was to explore parents' experiences of engaging in individualised parent--infant music therapy in their home setting after their baby's discharge from a NICU setting. Interviews were conducted with two mothers and descriptive phenomenology guided the immersive process of data analysis and explicating the prominent themes. Results Four shared themes were identified. Songwriting was experienced as being distinctly therapeutic, and mothers described the value of intentionally creating lyrics which captured what they wanted to remember about their NICU and parenting journey. Both mothers valued reconnecting with aspects of their previous selves from before their NICU experience. Discussion The composition of a personal song using therapeutic techniques offered mothers the opportunity to reflect on, and to begin to process their parenting experiences. Reflective Lullaby Writing is articulated as a novel approach to support post-NICU families. The findings of this pilot study will inform future studies in this area of practice which has not yet been well-established in the current discourse.

Automated summary

This research project aimed to explore parents' experiences of engaging in individualized parent-infant music therapy in their home setting after their baby's discharge from a NICU setting. The findings revealed that mothers reflected and began to process their parenting experiences through songwriting, indicating that this approach is a novel way to support post-NICU families.