Systematic review on music interventions during pregnancy in favor of the well-being of mothers and eventually their offspring.

Objective: Mental health affects maternal well-being and indirectly affects the development of fetal brain structures and motor and cognitive skills of the offspring up to adulthood. This study aimed to identify specific characteristics of music interventions that improve validated maternal outcomes.

Data Sources: Randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews investigating music interventions during pregnancy were identified from the start of data sources up to December 2023 using MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, or Web of Science.

Awareness of maternal stress, consequences for the offspring and the need for early interventions to increase stress resilience.

Experimental and clinical studies suggest that prenatal experiences may influence health trajectories up to adulthood and high age. According to the hypothesis of developmental origins of health and disease exposure of pregnant women to stress, nutritional challenges, infection, violence, or war may "program" risks for diseases in later life. Stress and anxieties can exist or be provoked in parents after fertility treatment, after information or diagnosis of fetal abnormalities and demand simultaneous caring concepts to support the parents.