So you have a toddler, maybe a school aged child and now you’re pregnant again. The first time around you and your partner took all the steps to prepare everything just in time for baby’s arrival:
The nursery – coordinated to perfection.
The birth plan – printed (with copies to spare).
So now that your estimated due date for THIS baby has been discussed and you feel it closing in week by week, what are your plans for getting ready to birth again? Continue reading
I had a huge opportunity this week. I was asked to speak to members of the OB Shared Governance Committee (basically the hands on policy makers) at a local area hospital. When I prepared for my talk, I planned to just talk about music for all the stages of labor and delivery. After all, I only had 20 minutes and could easily speak on the topic for 20 hours. But I quickly realized after hearing from the postpartum nurses, surgical nurses, educators and lactation consultants in the room that they wanted more information about the applications of music therapy for the whole spectrum of the childbirth experiences. Continue reading
They’re called CMTEs and for many music therapists these letters are the gold standard for continuing education. 100 CMTEs are required to renew board certification status every five years. After re-certifying three times now, I’ll tell you those five years pass too quickly! As a growing field of allied health professionals, music therapists are constantly seeking innovative ways to earn credits while learning about the newest, most effective applications of music therapy.
Now there is a new choice.
Continue reading
I’d love to see a series of “want ads” like this. Personal ads placed by professional doulas who are serious about their business of being a doula, aware of the depth of their work, seeking structured and professional supervision. Why would a doula need supervision?
Just this week, a question came across a very popular doula forum about “debriefing” or “venting” with other doulas about traumatic or difficult birth scenarios. Let’s be honest, as doulas we are creating a market revolution of supportive, continuous, compassionate care in very savvy and innovative ways. And this is great because it means more and more families will experience what professional doulas have to offer. More and more care providers will start to see the benefits. More and more demand for us. Which means more births to attend, more systems to navigate, more paper work, more placentas to encapsulate…
Anyone’s palms sweating yet?!
Deep focused Breathing. Feel your breath flow in and out. You’ve prepared for this surge in business. You’ve been trained, perhaps certified to handle the stages of labor and provide support throughout. You’ve honed your skills in touch and talk, bearing witness and reflective listening. You’ve advanced your business skills, done your market analysis and now you can warm chat the hell out of anyone. You know your ideal client. You’re booking 4 births a month and earning a living as a doula, doing your own taxes…Wait, my palms are sweating again.
Breathe.
Some doulas may head into this level of “busi-ness” with eager anticipation only to get knocked back a bit when suddenly the births they’ve been so well trained to attend start to wear us down. Perhaps start to take over emotions a bit. It may start as a reflection of how beautiful a birth was, or how strong that mother was. Perhaps something happened that was different than what was “expected” and as a doula you witness something that hits hard. Maybe you witness a mother experience an unwanted intervention or a difficult transition and suddenly, you find yourself remembering it all.the.time. Feelings surface. Lots of BIG FEELINGS SURFACE.
Now, I’m not saying all your feelings are negative or even as deep as a trigger for your own trauma. No, not all. But some maybe. Even just one emotion that still lingers as you read this. What if just that one feeling impacts you at your next birth? What if you have a hard time staying “present” because that one feeling is still part of your thoughts?
The simple act of being present, especially in birth, impacts us, in that moment in time and in our future way of living. I experienced these impacts early in my career. First, I experienced it as a heart aching compassion for the parents of the children living with autistic spectrum diagnosis. Next, by the penetrating grief of working with hospice families facing the deaths of their loved ones. Currently, what I experience is a mix of oxytocin rush, the dynamics of my own relationships and the ever present push to grow my birth business for world doula domination! (Ok, maybe just big enough to pay all my bills and give back a little.) Really, I’m a whole mess of emotions most of the time, so in some ways WE may not be that different from one another. One difference I do see is that I can attest, from personal and professional experience, my doula friends, is that you should consider that you need more than just a “place to vent about a birth” or “someone to decompress with.” You should consider for the sake of sustainablity as a professional doula that you too may need some skilled support. I did. After years of trying to bear it all myself, and process it all myself, hanging out with other doulas venting over Venti Mochas I realized,
I needed ongoing, structured and creative supervision in order to best fulfill my role as a birth worker.
For me, the answer to my unspoken “want ad” for serious support came in the form of a colleague asking me to participate in peer supervision. After my first two hour online peer supervision session everything felt lighter. I felt more connected, creative and aware. My movement felt fluid, my work more manageable. My motivation had returned. My work had more purpose.
We recently published some of the results in the New Jersey Association of Music Therapy’s first ever online journal Music Therapy Clinician. Since then, I have not looked back, never been busier or felt more balanced. The road to maintaining that balance and achieving wellness as a birth worker feels less bumpy now and I see a few more “fueling” stations along horizon then before. I know I can always turn to supervision for a hospitable respite, re-framing or a recharge before heading back down “Doula Road.”
This is why I offer structured, supportive supervision for doulas and other birth workers, music therapists and even consultations for parents seeking balance and mental wellness. I believe there is a need for confidential and competent supervision in the childbirth profession. I can relate to what you’re experiencing. I can offer you an assessment to help you determine what you may be experiencing. I can listen. I can reflect. I can try to understand and I can try to help you understand. I can offer you unique and creative ways of processing what you witness as a birth worker, what you need as a professional and where you’re headed in life as a doula. As a MT-BC, I adhere to a scope of practice and function under a code of ethics both of which consider the confidentiality of anyone I’m working with with the utmost importance and respect. Therefore, what you process with me, stays with me. What I offer is supervision, not socialization. So while I may be sipping a venti mocha while we engage in your supervision and the caring I offer feels like a trusted friend, I am not a friend. I’m a professional supervisor and you will be safe to share any and all reactions you have, judgements you make or feelings that surface from all aspects of your birthing business.
Please contact me, Kate Taylor, MA, MTBC at mymusictherapist@gmail.com or visit www.birthmusic.net for more information. Online group services for pre and perinatal music therapists are now available through the exclusive PPMT Supervision Group co-sponsored with Interlude Perinatal Support Services.
Email ppmtsupervision@gmail.com for more information about joining our next online series.
When childbirth is viewed as a holistic experience, music becomes one of the best resources to reach the diverse needs involved: physical, neurological, spiritual, emotional, social, environmental, interpersonal, even transcendental. Music for birth is just.so.awesome. Here are a few tips you can use when considering how to use music for during pregnancy, labor and beyond: Continue reading
Last week I was challenged by Julie over at Serenade Designs to consider my favorite quote and write about what it means to me. I didn’t even have to think for more than a second before I pushed back my office chair, rolled across the floor to my bookcase and grabbed the small hand drum that contains my favorite quote. This small hand drum has been in my grasp since the 1995 World Congress of Music Therapy held in Washington D.C. On the hand drum is printed a quote from Dr. John Diamond the founder of the Institute for Music and Health which reads:
Now, I’m not sure about you, but I see the words “music” and ” the Great Therapy” and I get pretty excited. What’s more exciting is that since 1995 we have gained a much broader awareness and in depth understanding of the applications of music as therapy across the entire spectrum of life. Originally, the author states, “one day, well into the future.” Well, 20 years the future is already upon us and we, as individual music therapists and collectively as a profession, are marching toward the light of day when this future is a reality. Each of us marches to a beat that provides us passion toward this ultimate goal of helping the world better understand the power of music and it’s role in healing and wellness. We hold a large part of the responsibility of bringing that beat back to the forefront of everyone’s awareness.
On his blog on music, John Diamond, M.D. has some interesting things to say about his approaches that rely on the use of music and arts for wellness, healing, and life enhancement. The goal of the enhancing well-being or holistic health in individuals and communities is one that music therapists may find beneficial to review within their own theoretical and philosophical approaches to music therapy. I personally find this holistic approach very useful in my own resource oriented music therapy practice especially how I integrate all of the creative arts when working with a population that is primarily “well”. See, at Creative Childbirth Concepts® pregnancy and birth are not viewed as illnesses to be treated, but rather are as a very normal and natural part of development for many people around the world. In fact, childbirth is one of the most universal experiences across humanity. For even if perhaps we never bear children ourselves, we were all at one time born. So, I’m thrilled when I find resources that challenge my understanding of music as therapy or music as a tool to unlock creativity and support multiple dimensions of wellness like psychosocial, spiritual, physical and emotional. When I was reviewing the information available on Dr. John Diamond for this blog post, I stumbled across one of his books that I can’t wait to explore (pictured here). I’m constantly teaching about the role of voice and song during pregnancy and the benefits lullaby at the time of birth. I was just asking the question to a peer supervisor recently about the clinical role of “love” and “motherly nurturing” in applications of lullabies. I do hope the text Music and Song, Mother and Love will expand my understanding of music and song in the context of mothering and love so that I can apply new understandings into music therapy for childbirth. I’ll have to post a review once I finish.
Book by John Diamond, M.D.
While the specific approaches at the Institute for Music and Health may not match everyone’s specific “definition” of music therapy, it is very important in the context of our discussions as music therapists that we are aware of how the holistic healing professions are using music. This way, we can continue to aspire towards the day in the (not so distant) future, when music therapists will be the ones who help show the world at long last that music IS the great therapy. These words remain a constant inspiration for me to learn, to integrate what others have learned, and to always be willing to redefine how music can be used therapeutically to support universal experiences like childbirth. So now you know how this quote inspires me as a music therapist. How does this quote inspire YOU? How can you help music fulfill it’s long anticipated promise to become the “Great Therapy”?
If I had to name just one thing that made my daily life as a music therapist easier it would have to be music, of course. Music is a resource that can enhance most experiences, particularly childbirth. As leaders in health care, music therapists have demonstrated how accessible and enriching music can be for improving quality of life, rehabilitation and healing. As a doula and music therapist, I’m entrusted to bring the music to the birth environment. So every time my phone beeps or buzzes in the middle of the night, I make sure my bluetooth wireless speaker is charged, packed and ready to help deliver the most precious cargo in my birth bag….the music.
First let me say, music for birth can come in many forms. I use my voice, my body, and at times various instruments through live musical interactions whenever appropriate, which can be often. Yet, most times during the labor and delivery stage, music enters the space as pre-recorded playlists. To deliver this experience I rely on a few important pieces of equipment. As a music therapist, the days of lugging around a giant case book of CDs, and a boombox bungee corded to my instrument cart are over. Music is more portable and higher quality than ever before. I use my mobile phone/ipod or tablet and streaming or downloaded music to organize and execute the applications of music. But without a speaker, much quality and application may be lost. So for the birth worker, music therapists and parents out there who may be seriously considering adding music to your birth plan, I’ll share a few specifics about the speaker I’ve had the most success with and a few reasons why it may be a useful tool for you to shape your birthing experience.
Currently I’m digging the portability and look of my SoundFreq Sound Kick speaker.
It has just the right balance between size and sound and is an excellent travel speaker with charging capabilities, aux and USB ports. The website boasts 7 hours of charge time but honestly I’ve used it for nearly 10 without having to recharge. I do notice the bass sound to diminish a bit as the battery life is low. Usually I carry a USB led charge pack with me and as soon as that is connected, the sound quality seems to return to normal until I can fully charge again.
The Sound Kick is designed with two 2.3 inch custom drivers and a XKICK™ chamber that pulls out of the back and supports the speaker. The expansion of this rear compartment at first glance appears to be a kickstand yet it serves a more important function to enhance the lower-frequency sound giving it a much fuller range than other portable speakers.
I recently saw the Bose Sound Link Mini in action at a outdoor party and was impressed with it’s ability to cut through the party volume. However it seemed to almost challenge conversation at times. I think I might explore it due to it’s extremely compact size. Yet, I hesitate that speakers of notable brand and portable mini size “disappear” more easily from the unit or birth place if left unattended. I tried for years to love the Sony SRSBTX300/BLK Bluetooth Wireless Speaker. But alas, I had to leave the relationship. The kickstand kept falling when on the hospital tray would wheel and it would turn off the speaker. The Sony bluetooth reception was spotty resulting in interruptions like a skipped CD and the weight is rather heavy for a birth bag. Doulas, as you know, every ounce counts when packing a bag to use while hauling a birth ball in tow. The size of the SoundFreaq Soundkick really is convenient and it’s weight is ideal.
Music Therapists, you’ll also love how light and compact the Soundfreaq speaker is. 
I’ve always been able to discreetly set it up on the window ledge or bedside table at birthing centers. I have even slipped the speaker and ipod into the pocket of a dad’s scrub attire as they headed into an emergency c section birth (with his permission of course). I love the variety of reactions I get when I pull out the speaker in prenatal visits too. In fact, one time during a prenatal education class, I pulled out the speaker, popped up the sound chamber a husband reacted with wide eyes and nervously asked, “what is that?!” He admitted he was scared it was a contraction stimulator and that I was planning to hook him up to it for childbirth education class. (Apparently, he’d watched too many youtube videos). Needless to say, he was relieved when the speaker started playing his wife’s favorite Latin tunes, instead of stimulating contractions on his abdomen.
Often when I set up the speaker, I get some oohs and ahhhs as well. Not just because of the speaker’s quality of sound, but it’s unique in aesthetics. You see, I have branded my business with two colors: a bright fresh green grass color and a soothing teal/aqua. Conveniently for me, the speaker comes in these amazing chromatic colors called Ocean (seen here), Sunset and Twilight. Nurses have come to recognize my speaker in the birth rooms and associate it the effects of the music therapy assisted childbirth. It just so happens that colors also affect our mood, memory and help with identity branding. So browse the variety of colors and styles offered by SoundFreaq speakers and see what fits your brand and the mood you wish to create in your birth place.
So whether you’re a music therapist, a doula or a couple preparing for birth, you can add music to your birth bag or tool kit with a small portable bluetooth speaker like the Soundfreaq Soundkick and a mobile device that streams music. Please consider that you may need some additional support in executing or implementing the most effective application of music in the birth environment. Certainly, you, your partner or your clients will be able to help assess some good musical choices. Ideally your preference is key to music being supportive and relaxing for you or doula clients. But with the collaborative guidance of a well trained and experienced music therapist, your ability to apply music effectively and your confidence in using music for birth will greatly be enhanced. Stay tuned for several more posts in response to Serenade Design’s Music Therapy Blogger Challenge and more in an upcoming series on creative resources for childbirth. Kate
Learn more about Kate Taylor, MA, MT-BC Birth Doula at www.birthmusic.net
Or contact Kate at mymusictherapist@gmail.com
Creative Childbirth Concepts 