In April 2011, Nora was interviewed by Women’s Magazine (also known as ‘W’) for an article about the effects of music on the emotions and spirit of a person. Her particular segment focused on women in labor. Here’s a quotation for the article:
Music also affects women during delivery – where creating the right mood is critical. “I’ve had people play everything from classical to church worship to rock and roll and heavy metal,” said Nora McNeill, a registered nurse and license midwife in the area. “It takes all different kinds. What might be calm and quieting for one person might be annoying for another.”
McNeill, who has more than 35 years experience in the health field, said that music is on her list for all new mothers. “It’s not an arbitrary thing,” McNeill said. “I think it’s very important. Music has a rhythm, labor has a rhythm. Like classical music that is gentle and sweet, then the intensity builds, there’s another movement of intensity, then a powerful climax and a finale. Labor is like a symphony,” she said.
Even though McNeill reminds her new mothers that music can help center them, while keeping them relaxed and focused, there are those patients that don’t want any music because “it can be sensory overload to them,” she said. And sometimes it’s a different version of music. “I have a waterfall that runs and creates a sound,” McNeill said. “A waterfall makes its own music.”
