There are untold health benefits of listening to music, whatever your current situation. Music can be a mood booster, which in turn can help your immune system, it can help your heart regulate its blood flow, and the right music can assist with relaxation and better sleep. 

 

When pregnant, you should be in tune with anything that can help your body operate in a healthier way. This includes listening to the right music, to aid with better health for both you and your baby. 

 

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In this post, we will look at some ways that listening to music can benefit unborn babies and their mothers, and the best music to listen to while pregnant!

 

How music can help with pregnancy

Relaxation

One of the most essential aspects of a healthy pregnancy is relaxing. It’s not easy when a baby is growing inside you, but it’s fundamental to give the best chance of a hassle-free pregnancy.

 

This is why many experts recommend taking steps to relax, especially during your third trimester. Some women stop working (if they can) around this time, particularly if they work in high-stress environments. Listening to music, especially classical music or other soothing varieties, can aid with lowering stress and increasing relaxation. 

 

Listening to music can be a new hobby!

Many pregnant women stop working a few months before the baby is due, and may stop some hobbies that require too much energy or pose a risk to the baby. This means that they have more time on their hands. Boredom during pregnancy is detrimental to both mother and child, so it is very beneficial to find productive hobbies. 

 

With lots of recreation time, some women fall into unhealthy hobbies; these can range from being unproductive to outright dangerous. Even seemingly harmless games such as Candy Crush can be addictive, not to mention casino games. These can potentially turn into a gambling addiction which can be hard to stop once the baby arrives, and could have a detrimental impact on both you and the baby.

Instead, a low intensity hobby could be finding new music to listen to. We’re talking about slow paced, relaxing music here – Rage Against the Machine probably won’t work – but any kind of soothing, uplifting music can have big benefits for mother and baby. What’s more, finding a newfound love for music – the mother could spend time searching for more music by certain artists or connecting with other fans online – can lead to less boredom and more fulfilment during pregnancy. 

 

Lowering Blood Pressure

Relaxation generally lends itself to lower blood pressure. If you listen to relaxing music over a longer period, you’ll find that your blood pressure drops or stabilises at a healthy level, and your heartbeat should stay level as well. 

Avoiding high blood pressure is essential during pregnancy, as it helps women combat conditions like preeclampsia (which can be critical if left untreated) and hypertension. 

 

Pain Control

 

When you’re pregnant, you’ll be feeling all sorts of pain that you never knew existed. Pregnancy is a gift, but at some points, it certainly doesn’t feel that way! 

 

However, music can be used to control pain as well. It is offered in hospitals and hospices as a way of managing chronic pain - and there’s no reason why it can’t be used to help with pains around pregnancy too!

 

Music therapy induces a sensory stimulation that helps the person feel less pain. Generally, happy, cheerful songs are used for this kind of pain control. 

 

Sleep Quality

Music can also greatly help a pregnant person’s quality of sleep. Lullabies are famous for helping children get to sleep, and the same premise works for adults as well. Indeed, listening to meditative music just before bed is a great way to help you drift off, and studies have shown that adults who listen to music 45 minutes before sleeping report better sleep quality instantly.

 

Music helps trigger electric signals to the brain that promotes rest, telling it that it is time to switch off for the day. Again, it’s important to choose the right music - relaxing songs are by far the best.

 

Helps with fetus brain activity

Most of these benefits of listening to music have focused on you, but there are also great benefits for your unborn fetus. While playing classical music does not necessarily make your fetus cleverer, studies have shown that it makes their brain more active. While there are probably not huge notable differences, some scientists do argue that classical music can help babies pick up new noises and sounds easier.

 

Helps with the fetus’ hearing abilities

Fetuses hear their first sound at around 16-18 weeks of pregnancy, and in the last few weeks of pregnancy, studies have shown that fetuses can recognise a lot more than you’d think - including their mother’s voice and word patterns in their native language. Listening to music can increase their hearing abilities, and if you make sure that you play the right music, you might be giving your baby a chance of improved hearing when they are out of the womb! 

 

What music to listen to

So, now you know just some of the amazing benefits of listening to music while pregnant, here is exactly what music to listen to!

 

Classical Music

Classical music is the most popular type of music to listen to while pregnant – and we’ve mentioned it a few times here already. With relaxing beats, often played by a piano or violin, and no lyrics, it is one of the most soothing types of music you can try. Try out Mozart or Beethoven and feel yourself relax!

Meditative Music

There are lots of tracks that can help you enter a state of meditation, some of which have an overlay of dialogue that is supposed to help you relax. Some meditative music is supposed to help combat stress and anxiety, and others might help promote sleep. You can find lots of meditative music on YouTube or Spotify to suit your needs. 

 

Happy Song

If you want to listen to pop songs that you enjoy while pregnant, go for it! Studies have shown that babies respond to happy music in the womb, and if music releases endorphins in you, that will only benefit the baby. Try to choose something that you have a personal connection to, which will invoke good memories and make you feel warm and content. 

 

Conclusion

As you can see, there are so many benefits to listening to certain types of music while pregnant. It can benefit both mother and baby; it can help prevent certain pregnancy conditions and lower stress levels in the mother. Furthermore, it can help the fetus develop into a happy, healthy baby.