Music can set the mood in
a room to alter one’s state
of mind.
There is no doubt that
music has its benefits,
but is it relevant in a
medical setting? According to patients who
participated in KK Women’s and Children’s
Hospital (KKH)’s music-based intervention
programme, Healing Tunes, the answer is a
resounding “yes”.
A soundtrack for giving birth
Launched last May, and the first of its kind
in Singapore, Healing Tunes allows patients
undergoing Caesarean section to select
songs and create a playlist to accompany
their experience. By listening to their
music selection before, during and after
the surgery, the programme aims to reduce
anxiety and pain magnification.
Associate Professor Sng Ban Leong (below),
Head and Senior Consultant, Department
of Women’s Anaesthesia, KKH, and his
team found in a study that, with musicbased
intervention, their patients’ state
of mind improved significantly. “In the
study published in 2023, among the group
of patients who had the music-based
intervention when undergoing elective
Caesarean sections, their anxiety scores were
halved, and pain magnification scores were
reduced by 35 per cent,” said Assoc Prof Sng.
The research paper on that study, ‘Effect of
music listening on perioperative anxiety,
acute pain and pain catastrophising in women
undergoing elective Caesarean delivery’, was
published in BMC Anaesthesiology.
Ms Kayla Wong (below), Senior Music Therapist,
Child Life, Art and Music Therapy
Programmes, KKH, explained that patients
listening to their preferred music enjoy
“the effect of increasing relaxation,
bringing on the associated benefit of
alleviating anxiety”. She added: “Evidence
shows that music-based interventions can
be effective in reducing anxiety, which
in turn can make the Caesarean surgery
experience less daunting.”
Pregnant with worry
Typically, pregnant patients are given
spinal anaesthesia during Caesarean
sections but remain awake throughout.
As such, they feel anxious and may focus
on the pain. Increased blood pressure,
heart and breathing rates are the physical
effects of anxiety that add to the stress on a
patient’s body during surgery
Besides having higher pain scores, the
effects of anxiety extend beyond surgery,
with patients developing an increased risk of
persistent pain and postnatal depression. “In
the study, which involved 108 KKH patients,
we found that anxiety was prevalent in seven
out of 10 patients, while pain magnification
was prevalent in around three out of 10
patients,” shared Assoc Prof Sng.
Conventionally, medications are used to treat
anxiety related to surgery. But such medications
carry side effects that are transferred from the
pregnant patient to her baby. Such risks do not
apply with Healing Tunes.
Goodbye anxiety
Besides easing the anxiety levels of pregnant
patients undergoing Caesarean sections,
Healing Tunes offers other benefits. “Our
memories are embedded within music that
is meaningful to us. Choosing familiar and
personalised favourite music to accompany
their delivery experience can create stronger
familial bonds between parents and the
baby,” said Ms Wong.
By curating their delivery experience
soundtrack, patients “play a part in their care
while sharing a part of who they are through
their musical identity with the team”, added
Ms Wong. This in turn enables patients to
create meaningful connections with the medical
staff, allowing them to offer better support.
Since the nurses in the Operating
Theatres led its implementation, Healing
Tunes has enjoyed a high adoption rate
among all pregnant patients undergoing
Caesarean sections, with almost all opting for
the music-based intervention programme.
Reactions from the patients have been
overwhelmingly positive. Ms Shen Haiying (below),
Senior Nurse Manager, Operating Theatres,
KKH, pointed out: “From the feedback
that we have gathered, the satisfaction and
recommendation rates were 92 per cent and
93 per cent respectively.”
Since late 2023, patients undergoing
embryo transfer at the KKIVF Centre have
been able to adopt music-based intervention
to reduce their anxiety. “The KKH team
continues to improve the Healing Tunes
workflow and patient satisfaction, and plans
to offer it to other types of patients,” shared
Ms Shen.
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