Antepartum Wellness Project: Implementing Music Therapy Programming for Antepartum Patients Experiencing Extended Hospitalizations during a Global Pandemic

Non-hospitalized pregnant patients have been shown to benefit from music therapy, however, the impact of these therapies in higher stress populations including antepartum patients with extended hospital stays (> 96hrs) remains poorly understood. We have developed a structured year-long music therapy program led by a Music Therapist, Board Certified (MT-BC) specifically for the antepartum population. We hypothesize this program will have short- and long-term effects on wellbeing, as defined by decreased day-to-day distress ratings (including social isolation), improvement in mean pain scores, and decreased rates of peripartum depression. Overall, this program aims to develop, establish and evaluate a music-therapy-based wellness program for antepartum patients. This presentation will discuss the creation of the “Antepartum Music Therapy Wellness Program” housed within Michigan Medicine’s Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Procedure for the initiation of the Antepartum Music Therapy Wellness Program, responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, and initial study findings will be reviewed and discussed.