Music therapy during pregnancy?

I don’t have links for you, but in general, anything that relaxes a pregnant woman is a good thing as any adrenaline or tension related chemicals transfer to the fetus.
Edit to add; When i was pregnant, I noticed a difference in fetal activity when i was upset or angry.

Music can definitely be used to relax and calm mom while pregnant and if mom is calm, the baby could also calm down. It is believed that babies can begin to hear at about 5 months in utero. I have heard different things about playing music for the baby while still in utero (such as it increasing intelligence). I believe that latest information is that there isn’t a definite correlation between a baby’s intelligence and listening to music in utero. Here are a few articles about it that I just found online (here, here, and here).

I used to sing to my wife’s belly and occasionally say “helloooo in there!” It didn’t seem to do any harm. :D

My mother always played classical music when I was in her belly.

I have a fondness for classical music.

I played a variety of music for both my daughters while I was pregnant. Although I had heard that classical music, especially Mozart was supposed to be very good for brain development and intelligence. I played a LOT of classical music, and most of it was Mozart, and though I have no way of proving if it had any effects on the babies, both my daughters are incredibly bright, and were so even since birth.

They both talked very early (my youngest actually started saying “mama” at only 3½ months) and both had enormous vocabularies, to the point where other moms would look at me and ask, “how old are they?” They both used large words in appropriate context, even at terribly young ages. When my oldest daughter was only two, she was using words like “technically” and “apparently” and would speak in a clear voice with highly advanced sentences. I’m still in awe of my girls. =0)

Like I said, I have no way of knowing whether the music enhanced their minds, but it certainly didn’t hurt. And they both have an appreciation for classical music.

My daughter loved MoTown when she was in utero. She would get active and move around rhythmically. She still loves MoTown. Very odd.

I would think that the love of music could be instilled in children from what they hear after they are born. Before, aren’t they hearing whatever they hear through the fluid they are floating in? Maybe they can hear something, but maybe not. Most important I think is to enjoy your child, expose her to the arts and the joy of beautiful things to see and hear, and then follow her lead. You don’t need to stress too much about turning your child into a gifted person or a genius. Appreciating her for who she is will turn out best in the long run.

But if you love listening to beautiful music while you are pregnant, why not just enjoy that for itself?