ABC 7: Music Therapy Helps Preemies Thrive and Go Home Sooner
ABC 7 recently interviewed Laura Cellini, a board-certified music therapist, and Joanne Ordono, a child life specialist at Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s, about the healing effects of music therapy on premature infants.
Cellini told ABC 7 correspondent Denise Dador that her work in the medical center’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which includes humming, singing and strumming the guitar, is a methodical process that blends music with careful medical observation.
“It’s not just me going and playing the guitar,” Cellini said. “It’s a lot more of me looking at the monitors. Making sure they’re stabilized.”
Ordono told Dador the benefits of music therapy extend beyond a newborn’s vital signs, helping with their overall development—especially the brain—and improving feeding.
“The other thing that we want to support is the whole family,” Ordono said. “This gives them the opportunity to create those meaningful moments to strengthen their bonds in a special way.”
Despite emerging research suggesting music therapy can help stabilize vital signs in premature infants, it is not a standard offering in many U.S. NICUs and often relies on philanthropic financial support.
Joey and Ryder Corleto, twins who were born prematurely at Cedars-Sinai 14 years ago, recently donated $20,000 from their bar and bat mitzvah gifts, along with personal fundraising, to support music therapy where they once received care.
“We decided that we wanted to do this for our good deed together to donate to the NICU,” Joey Corleto told Dador.
Watch the complete segment from ABC 7.