Mom’s Voice Helps Children During Anesthesia

As children, our mother’s healing voice was always something that could calm us down and make us feel better. Even now as adults, many people will still give their Mom a call when faced with a stressful situation. Researchers have recognized this, and are hoping to determine if a mom’s voice helps reduce emergence delirium if children hear their mother’s healing voice in a recording after anesthesia. 

After a procedure, children recovering from anesthesia sometimes experience a behavioral disturbance known as “emergence delirium.” The condition may cause patients to become very confused or experience hallucinations, which can be stressful for the children as well as caregivers and parents. Aside from being extremely uncomfortable and frightening, emergence delirium can be dangerous. Children sometimes move violently, injuring themselves and opening incisions.

Researchers in South Korea believe a mom’s voice helps reduce emergence delirium. Studies in the past have shown that a mother’s voice can activate certain areas in the brain, affect behavioral and neural responses, and involuntarily cause children to be more attentive. 

The study included 66 children between the ages of two and eight recovering from eye, ear, nose, or throat surgeries. Half of the children heard a recording of their mother’s voice asking them to wake up over noise-cancelling headphones, while the other half heard a stranger saying the same words. Researchers will examine the results, and determine whether or not the children who heard mom’s voice helps reduce emergence delirium than the children who heard the voice of a stranger. 

This study has just recently concluded, and researchers are still studying and analyzing the results. If they do find a link the mom’s voice helps reduce emergence delirium in children, it will be a great option for medical professionals to use to keep children safe and reduce the child’s stress and anxiety following anesthesia.