Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • Summer 2025 17 SAI Philanries, Inc. and rest, promote the parent-infant bond, increase neurodevelopment, and increase coordination and consistency for non- nutritive suck pattern. The Multimodal Neurological Enhancement (MNE) intervention is a twenty-two-step pattern that layers different senses including auditory, tactile, and visual stimuli to increase tolerance, but also lower cortisol levels and promote positive responses and experiences. This intervention includes positive touch through a tactile progression to promote the neurological development of the child using lullaby singing with or without guitar. The great thing about music therapy in this setting is not only can the music therapist be there for the infant, they are there to support the parents and family during the experience as well. The music therapist can also teach mom or dad to do this progression to promote the parent-infant bond. When singing lullabies, infants prefer mom's voice. If the mom is available to learn this technique, then this process is an even more positive experience for the child and mom. The Pacifier Activated Lullaby (PAL) is a device that helps increase the coordination and success in a non- nutritive suck for the infant. Infants sometimes struggle to have the strength and coordination to feed properly, especially after being tube-fed for some time. This device connects to the infant's pacifier and will play ten seconds of lullaby music for each successful suck. This positive auditory response helps the infant learn and coordinate the non-nutritive suck pattern to transition to feed in a successful manner. Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is a diagnosis when the infant experiences withdrawal symptoms due to intrauterine drug exposure. These infants are often irritable, fussy, and cry often due to withdrawal symptoms. Music therapy is often used with these infants to promote relaxation and sleep to calm using singing, patting, and rocking patterns. PAL may also be used with these babies if applicable to promote feeding. This training and experience was so informative and eye-opening for me personally, and I hope to bring what I've learned into the hospitals in the area. My goal is to educate and bring awareness to music therapy as a non-pharmacological treatment in the local community. I am always learning and interested in furthering education surrounding music therapy development. When thinking of ways to expand my practice, the NICU- MT certification has always been in the back of my mind as something incredibly interesting to me. There is no time like the present to try something new in my field! I am very thankful to SAI for helping fund this project, and of course to my family who has always been my support system. Kiersten Weyer, MT-BC, is owner of Music Therapy of Evansville in Indiana. She works with a variety of individuals including seniors in nursing facilities, children and adults in psychiatric care, and individuals with developmental disabilities.

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