Three organisations who have been pioneering evidence-based arts and health programmes, and who are part of the largest ever study into arts and health, will be coming together to present a free symposium for artists, organisations, researchers, health partners and commissioners with an interest in scaling on Thursday 27th June. (Eventbrite here)
Launched in 2019, SHAPER (Scaling-up Health Arts Programmes: Implementation and Effectiveness Research) is the world’s largest ever study into the impact and scalability of arts interventions on physical and mental health, led by King’s College London in collaboration with UCL, and supported by a £2.5m award from Wellcome. The three arts partners taking part in the study, and leading the symposium, are Breathe Arts Health Research with Breathe Melodies for Mums, English National Ballet with Dance for Parkinson’s – PD-Ballet®, and Rosetta Life with Stroke Odysseys. We sat down with Breathe Arts Health Research with Breathe Melodies for Mums and found out a bit more about their program.
What is Melodies for Mums and how does it work?
Breathe Melodies for Mums is a group singing programme, based on ground-breaking research, that is designed to support women who have recently had a baby and are experiencing symptoms associated with postnatal depression such as low mood, stress or anxiety. Groups of up to 12 women and their babies, come together in a warm, welcoming environment and simply sing. The emphasis is on feeling a sense of togetherness with other mums interacting with their babies, and most importantly, making THEM feel good.
The repertoire of songs come from all around the world in a variety of languages, often reflecting the joys and challenges of motherhood, with empowering songs to help women find their voices. Multi-part harmonies challenge the group creatively, and learning this new skill together, helps to build confidence over the 10-week programme.
As part of the SHAPER research, eligible participants were split into two groups; The first group joined a 10-week Breathe Melodies for Mums programme and the second attended a standard (not singing based) mother and baby sessions for ten weeks as a control group, this was to prove whether singing groups deliver more powerful results for minimising the symptoms of PND.
What do participants say about the project?
Mums who have participated in the Breathe Melodies for Mums programme have said that the group singing sessions not only lifted their mood and boosted their confidence, but also connected them to a supportive community. These sessions became a source of joy during challenging times, even helping them rediscover themselves.
I’ve included some quotes below:
“Singing is like an endorphin hit just like exercise; it helps you with your mental health. I always felt better after Breathe Melodies for Mums no matter how I felt at the start. It broke up the same monotonous daily routine of changing nappies, feeding, and putting my baby to bed.”
“Over the weeks I really felt like I got some of me back, that everything was OK and that I wasn’t alone. It was an amazing time for me to spend with my baby, bonding, spending quality time together, and being present in the moment.”
“I felt like I was in my own world, and not in other people’s world; Breathe Melodies for Mums gave me the light to see that it’s not only me that felt this way and that you can remove yourself from the situation and feel happy and confident again.”
Breathe Melodies for Mums from Breathe Arts Health Research’s is an evidence-based group singing programme that aims to reduce symptoms of postnatal depression (PND) in new mothers. Participants join weekly sessions with their babies over a period of 10-weeks. Sessions are led by a specialist arts and health singing lead, using a diverse repertoire of songs in a range of languages with multiple parts and harmonies to challenge the group artistically. Breathe Melodies for Mums has been shown to reduce symptoms of postnatal depression, improve mother-baby bonding and provide connection with other mothers experiencing PND. The research around delivery of this programme at scale (SHAPER-PND) is led by Professor Carmine Pariante (KCL) and Professor Daisy Fancourt (UCL).