Effect of reciting Qur’an on improving the health of mother and infant

 The birth of a premature infant as a stressful event and severe emotional crisis disrupts the functioning of parents and endangers the physical and mental health of mothers. Muslim mothers tend to recite the Holy Qur’an in such circumstances. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Qur’an recitation on improving the health status of mother and infant.

 In this review study, by using SID, Magiran, Google Scholar, PubMed and Science Direct databases, the keywords including mother, infant, Qur’an recitation and health in Persian and English were searched in studies published from 2010 to 2020. Out of 243 titles obtained during two stages of review based on inclusion and exclusion criteria including reviewing a) the title and abstract and b) the whole article, 15 articles were finally selected for the current study.

 The articles used in the present study were categorized as clinical trial (11), review (1) and qualitative (3) articles. The focus of the studies was on the effect of reciting Qur'an on various aspects of maternal and preterm infant health. According to the studies, reciting Qur'an for infant stabilized physiological parameters, reduced pain level and facilitated comfort and growth levels of infant. For mother, it declined stress, anxiety, depression and pain, improved physical, mental and psychological characteristics as well as empowered mother to play her role and control stressful life situations.

 Recitation of the Holy Qur’an is suggested as one of the powerful strategies in meeting the health needs and accelerating the improvement of mothers and infants.