“My baby, so pretty…”: in a Nancy hospital room, the voice of a lyric singer offers a soothing interlude to premature newborns, an encounter between care and lyrical art, born from a partnership between the CHRU and the opera.
Aline Martin, mezzo-soprano in the choirs of the Opéra national de Lorraine, sits opposite a mother carrying her prematurely born baby on her body. After talking with her for a few minutes, she begins to sing.
Between classic Walt Disney tunes, nursery rhymes, a Hail Mary or the song Amazing Gracethe speaker has a wide repertoire to satisfy parents’ desires and develop the curiosity of toddlers, who often open one eye or smile.
“The vibrations of the voice, particularly the lyrical voice, have something enveloping for babies,” notes the artist, who does not use the full potential of his vocal cords, and must also be careful to sing quietly, so as not to “scare” children… or parents.
According to her, the voice rocks babies, who fall “four times out of five” in deep sleep.
Pediatrician and co-head of the service, Mathilde Queudet praises the benefits of singing for premature babies, “demonstrated in the literature for several years”. “It soothes them, it slows down their heart rate, it improves sleep and the transition to deep sleep,” the doctor lists.
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Awakening of the child
“Appeasement” is also often the first benefit highlighted by mothers who benefit from this mini-concert at the hospital.
“It brings lightness, happiness”, estimates Tiphaine Robert, 29 years old, mother of Nora, born September 6.
The first time Aline Martin sang for Nora, “we had to continue singing all afternoon with my partner”, otherwise the infant “grunted as soon as we stopped”smiles his mother, who says her ” pleasure “ to relive the intervention.
“We also feel that it contributes to her awakening, she opens her eyes a little, fidgets a little”observe-t-elle.
In a room where “the noise of the machines” never stops, “it is important for the well-being of babies”, also praises Emma, mother of Iris, born September 7, two and a half months early.
Apart from the incessant “beeps” of the devices, “the days are long and silent”, in the hospital, “we are still waiting”, notes Patricia Didier, mother of Tom, born at 32 weeks.
From then on, the concert “brings a little bit of joy, notes the mother, whose toddler has “open your eyes” from the first notes and “smiled the whole time”.
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“Little valve”
For Doctor Queudet, singing strengthens the parent/child bond: even if the parents do not sing themselves, it “makes a seed germinate” and the idea that they will be able to hum in turn.
An idea all the more welcome since today’s parents, “connected to their smartphone”, “no longer sing to their baby like before” and sometimes just look for music on YouTube for him, deplores Aline Martin.
In intensive care or intensive care, the lyric singer’s “public” is hospitalized for very variable periods, from a few days to several months.
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In intensive care, a “very particular environment”, “the bond, the attachment are put to the test”, underlines the pediatrician. The suspended moment with the artist is then “a little bubble, a little relief that we offer them, an opportunity to experience something unique with their child”.
One year after the signing of an agreement between the CHRU (regional university hospital center) and the Opéra de Lorraine to “include voice in the care pathway”the issue today is “to expand these actions”explains Fedoua Bayoudh, head of the artistic and cultural education department of the opera, which manages this project.
According to Inserm, 6.9% of babies are born prematurely in France.