Brahms' Lullaby Can Help Relieve Stress In Pregnancy

Listening to Brahms' Lullaby, Beethoven and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star can help relieve stress in pregnancy, research has suggested.
Women who listened to CDs of lullabies, classical music and sounds of nature felt more relaxed than those who did not, it found.

The music - all set to the tempo of the human heart beat - was also found to ease anxiety and depression.

Experts from Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan split pregnant women into two groups, with 116 given music CDs and 120 receiving normal pregnancy care and acting as controls.
The women given the music received four CDs, each containing about 30 minutes of music.
One CD featured lullabies, a second contained classical music like Beethoven and Debussy, a third featured nature sounds and a fourth was based on soothing crystal music of Chinese nursery rhymes and songs.
The tempo of the music was set at 60 to 80 beats per minute, the same as the human heart rate.
The women were told to listen to at least one disc all the way through every day for two weeks.
They could choose at which point they listened to the music but were asked to record what they were doing at the time and which one they chose.
Most of the expectant mothers listened to the music while they were resting, at bedtime or carrying out chores.