Music Therapy Researcher -IV

Where everyone is a Music therapist & a Researcher ;-)

It seems like my research is continuous, just as I continue with the 4th blog during World Music Therapy Week celebrations, as it is being commemorated all over the world.

Well, I simultaneously worked on getting my proposal for the master's dissertation. By God’s Grace, nothing untoward happened. In December 2016, I received the Internal Research Committee certificate, and by February 2017, I had gotten through the Institutional Human Ethics and received the approval certificate too. The study was an interdepartmental collaborative study between the Center for Music Therapy and Research(Currently the School of Music Therapy, Institute of Salutogenesis & Complementary Medicine), Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Department of Paediatrics, and the Department of Psychiatry at the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute campus and hospital at Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth University, Pondicherry, India.

This study was with postnatal mothers after a normal delivery. The Aim and objectives were to record the musical preferences and use them as an intervention, while I also recorded the maternal perception of lactation with a checklist of the breastmilk. It was not approved to take samples of the milk from the mother. I had to settle for maternal perception.

I hardly had 5 months for data collection, statistical analysis, and to write the dissertation. It was crazy because the participants had to be seen twice every day for 72 hours, and the data was to be collected on all three days. The participants were followed up from the start of labour to the postnatal period and 72 hours post labour. The participants were also followed up for 45 days as a home-based intervention and again assessed when they brought their babies in for their first vaccination. The dropout rate was quite high, and many participants dropped out even during the initial 72 hours. It was pretty exhausting as I was also working and studying together. Managing administrative work, and my data collection, along with interns who had to be supervised and supported with Patient care, was a bit of a hassle. However, looking back at it, I did enjoy all the work with its crazy hecticness :-). The main interest came with the data collected and the statistical analysis. I have had so much work done in Pregnancy, labour and postnatal care, even research studies feel like a pregnancy with its gestational period and the full cycle each time.

Title: Evaluating the effect of music therapy on the establishment of lactogenesis and maternal breastfeeding satisfaction levels

Abstract:

Background: Establishment of lactogenesis is an important determinant for a successful breastfeeding journey of first-time mothers. Breastfeeding is essential for the provision of immunity and neurodevelopment. Primigravids commonly encounter issues with the initiation of the lactation process. Music has been documented to have an impact on reducing anxiety, stress, as well as pain perception during labour, thereby benefiting lactating mothers. This current study evaluated the effect of music therapy on the process of lactogenesis and breastfeeding in primigravids Objectives: To evaluate the effect of active music listening and singing lullabies on the establishment of lactogenesis and maternal breastfeeding satisfaction in new mothers. Methods: This is an exploratory randomised controlled trial with primigravids (n=62) randomised and allocated into two groups, i.e., music therapy/group A (n=33) and control group/ group B (n=29), respectively. Music therapy intervention was provided to group A, while standard medical care was commonly given to both groups. The UNICEF breastfeeding checklist and Maternal Breastfeeding Evaluation Scale (MBFES) were used to evaluate initiation of lactation time and maternal Breastfeeding satisfaction levels, respectively. Results: There was statistically significant improvement in the initiation of lactation time, time of each feed and maternal breastfeeding satisfaction levels, with a steady rise in time of each feed in the music therapy group. There was also a significant difference in the increase in the time of feeds between the music therapy and control groups. Conclusion: Music therapy may be helpful as an effective coping strategy for first-time mothers and help them in establishing lactogenesis. Music therapy may also help enhance the maternal breastfeeding satisfaction levels. Keywords: anxiety, breastfeeding, Indian music, lactation, lactogenesis, maternal satisfaction, music therapy

Reference: Ramesh B, Sundar S, Ghose S, Damodaran G, Balasubramanian S, Govindasamy E. Evaluating the effect of music therapy on the establishment of lactogenesis and maternal breastfeeding satisfaction levels. Int.J.Med.Health res. 2020;6;05–09

Every Research study has had its advantages and disadvantages, good experiences, learnings and positive outcomes along with the challenges, logistical issues and difficulties. However, once the study is over, the feeling is quite difficult to express. There is a sense of completion, satisfaction, and excitement to know what the data would reveal, and how we display the data and analyse it.

I had no idea that any of these were happening in my life. As life crossed, I happened to apply for my PhD, and my next post will give a narrative of the process of my research study and what came of it from where it started.

Acknowledging all the Departments for their support and cooperation, the nursing staff, PGs and the patients for us to be able to work within these wards. A huge gratitude to the Management and the staff as well