Massage Music Helps Postpartum Depression

After childbirth, many mothers feel very emotional. They may feel sad, afraid, inadequate, or angry. This is called postpartum blues or the baby blues and usually goes away within a week. Postpartum depression lasts longer and is more severe.

The 10 to 20% who feel depressed for longer can experience the inability to sleep or the desire to sleep much more; recurring thoughts of either something bad happening to their baby or of doing something to hurt the baby themselves; feeling no instinctive need to care for the baby or feeling unable to care; and feeling guilty, mad, unhappy or scared.

We know that massage is beneficial for mothers and for babies; in the instance of postpartum depression, massage benefits both as well as the relationship between the two, allowing them both to experience positive, healing interaction. Mom gets a massage and also learns how to share the experience with her baby.

During those first days after birth and the following first weeks, both baby and Mom will not always sleep well and regularly. Nerves can be on edge and it can seem like all you do as a mother is feed and diaper your baby. A relaxing massage can soothe and calm the mother. If she is also taught how to massage her baby, the shared experience can give them the opportunity to bond. The baby can also find relief from digestive problems and colic, teething, and inability to sleep.

The study ‘Massage and mother baby interaction with depressed mothers’, carried out by Fetal and Neonatal Stress Research Group, considered whether mothers suffering from postnatal depression would benefit from attending baby massage classes.

One group went to five massage classes and another similar (control) group went to a support group. At the end of the test period the massage group had significantly less depression and better interaction with their babies than the control group.

Soothing massage music helps us to relax. Research suggests that music stimulates the body’s natural “feel good” chemicals (opiates and endorphins). This stimulation results in improved blood flow, blood pressure, pulse rate, breathing, and posture changes, many of the same results that we see from massage. So both mother and baby can benefit greatly from massage accompanied by massage music.