{"id":26432,"date":"2019-12-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/12\/heartbeat-recordings\/"},"modified":"2020-02-13T09:57:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T15:57:00","slug":"heartbeat-recordings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/12\/heartbeat-recordings\/","title":{"rendered":"Heartbeat recordings-turned-songs capture moments and create lasting gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s nap time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU<\/a>) at\u00a0Texas Children\u2019s\u00a0Hospital<\/a>. Dane Scott Sanford, a tiny patient, is resting comfortably in his crib and his red hair matches the dinosaurs on his onesie.<\/p>\n

On this day, Texas Children\u2019s music therapist<\/a> Alix Brickley is recording Dane\u2019s heartbeat to create an original song for his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe heartbeat recording is something that is really unique,\u201d Brickley said. \u201cTo be able to give that to families, especially families that don\u2019t get to go home with their kids, to give them that little bit of their child back is something special.\u201d<\/p>\n

The heartbeat recording program was founded in 2016 by music therapist Marial\u00a0Biard to give families of critically ill children a lasting gift.<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t been an easy few months for Dane and his family. Delivered at 34 weeks, Dane was born with a large omphalocele<\/a>, a congenital abnormality that causes the abdominal organs to protrude out of the belly through an opening around the umbilical cord.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had surgery every other day for the first two weeks of his life to try and get all of his organs inside,\u201d said Sarah Sanford, Dane\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

Music therapy has become a positive force for the Sanfords during Dane\u2019s stay in the NICU.<\/p>\n