Carter Richardson was born prematurely at 28 weeks. Mom Megan turned to music therapy, which helped her son develop and helped create their mother-son bond.

Published: October 24, 2024

Every Tuesday morning, the sweet sound of music takes over on the Norton Healthcare St. Matthews campus.

Inside the Marshall Women’s Health & Education Center, a group of parents and infants are sitting in a circle. A music therapist strums the guitar, while the group sings along. The babies move their bodies to the beat.

The class is called “New Baby: Music and Bonding,” which allows parents and babies the opportunity to bond through conversation and music. The class is led by Alexis “Alex” Ruffner, M.S., MT-BC, NICU-MT, a board-certified music therapist whose goal is to teach songs and tactics that will help promote early infant development. Among the attendees are Megan Richardson and her son Carter.

The Tuesday morning songs are part of the reason 15-month-old Carter is still alive, according to Megan.

‘We had no idea what faced us’

Carter Richardson was born Dec. 10, 2022. He was born prematurely, at just 28 weeks gestational age. He was just 2 pounds, 12 ounces. After birth, Carter went straight to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for extra care and attention.

He would stay there for 100 days.

“I think for us, in the NICU, we had no idea what he was going to look like, what problems could’ve occurred,” Megan said. “He didn’t have very long to develop, so we had no idea what faced us. It was a day-to-day situation.”

Four weeks into their stay in the NICU, Megan and Carter were introduced to Alex, a music therapist who serves the NICU at Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital. Alex specializes in working with premature infants and their families.

At the time, Carter was only 32 weeks gestational age. He was having trouble breathing on his own, often holding his breath at random points throughout the day. His body was still developing. Megan and her husband were still learning to interact with their newborn.

For Carter, music therapy paid instant dividends.

Alex worked with the mother-son duo to promote Carter’s sensory processing and ability to tolerate multiple sounds and stimuli. At the same time, she helped them learn how to interact and read each other’s behaviors.

“It helped us bond a lot,” Megan said. “It was a bit of an out-of-body experience, because at first, I couldn’t bond with my child that I just gave birth to. I didn’t know how to touch him. His nerves were still developing. So Alex came in and taught us all of those things. And you could see it by looking at the monitors. When she would come in for music therapy, his heart rate and breathing regulated.”

Music in the NICU

“Music therapy, especially in the NICU, can really promote something that is normal in a very unnatural environment,” Alex said. “Singing to a baby is something parents do instinctually. So in the NICU, parents can feel uncomfortable, even embarrassed or afraid, because they [think they] could be doing something that can potentially harm the baby. But music therapists can help the parents understand the baby’s behaviors and help them feel more comfortable doing things around their child.”

Carter eventually left the NICU and was transferred downtown to Norton Children’s Hospital. He had one more hurdle to climb before he could go home. Carter was diagnosed with severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, caused when the tiny hair cells in the inner ear or auditory nerve (responsible for transmitting sound to the brain) are damaged. He was surgically fitted for cochlear implants.

Still, Megan and her husband kept in touch with Alex, who continued to work with the new parents on ways to use music therapy outside of the NICU. Those tactics continued to promote Carter’s development.

“When he got diagnosed with hearing loss, that was even more a thought of, ‘What is his life going to look like?’” Megan said. “And now, since he received his implants, he’s back to full hearing, pretty much catching up to where he needs to be. He is far exceeding his expectations. That said, when we were transferred downtown and away from Alex, we kept in touch with her, and she helped us with strategies and tactics that we can use in our daily lives, our daily routines.”

What is music therapy?

At Norton Healthcare, music therapy is used to help patients reach their treatment goals.

Ten board-certified music therapists help patients with pain, discomfort and anxiety often associated with hospitalization. Music therapy also can help patients and their families cope and address emotional, mental and social needs, while enhancing their quality of life and offering the opportunity to share time together in a positive, creative way. It can help the overall health and well-being of people dealing with a variety of conditions. Specific therapies are based on the therapist’s assessment of each patient’s strengths and needs.

Funding for the music therapy program is made possible in part by the Norton Healthcare Foundation and the Norton Children’s Hospital Foundation. It is available to all patients, so long as they have a physician’s order.

“It’s amazing we’re able to offer music therapy in our organization,” Alex said. “Knowing we can make a difference in patients’ lives, with our passion, means the world to me.”

‘He absolutely loves Ms. Alex’

Fifteen months later, Megan and Carter have become fixtures at the music and bonding classes. They attend as much as possible, constantly tracking and assessing Carter’s progress as he moves toward his social and developmental goals. It’s a chance for them to connect with one another and with other families who may be experiencing a similar situation.

“He absolutely loves Ms. Alex,” Megan said. “When I say her name he lights up and goes by the door. And I know I can reach out to her at any time if he starts struggling. So it’s a great resource and a friend to have. And he loves it, so that’s the most important thing.”

The classes also provide a chance to maintain the friendship that began in the NICU.

“It’s amazing,” Alex said. “It’s one of the reasons why I love this group, because patients keep coming back. So I see children grow up. A lot of times when I see my patients, they’ll tell me their baby loves music or has a favorite song or uses a song we’ve sung in the NICU — is what they use to put their baby to sleep. So knowing what we expose them to in the early days in the NICU has a lasting impact in their early childhood development means the world to me.”