A NEW group offering therapeutic singing sessions for mums and their babies has launched in Colchester.
Kate Pavey runs a community singing group named Singing Mamas, which aims to help women socialise, stay healthy and reduce stress.
The group meets on Thursdays from 10am to 11am, at Abbots Community Hall, in Ladbrook Drive.
Kate said: "I love the singing mama's group because it focuses on the mother first. I firmly believe that helping the mother with her own mental well-being will have a profound effect on her ability to provide for her baby.
"In addition, singing with and around your baby is wonderfully beneficial for development.
"There are no auditions, no solos, no reading music. Just simple, unaccompanied songs taught by ear.
"The songs are taught line by line, and the group will echo them back until everyone knows them by heart. Then we might add a harmony or two."
The group began in September with funding provided by the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance.
Kate said: "We ran the group for ten weeks and it was free to attend for all participants. We are now trying to keep the resource going through a mixture of private funding, participant membership and community support."
Children and babies are welcome in the group as the gathering encourages mothers to attend and join in with the singing.
Kate adds: "The group is targeted at women who are either pregnant or have a baby under one. However, the group welcomes all women because community and generational connection are vital.
"Women in this perinatal stage are one of the most vulnerable groups in our society. Suicide is the leading cause of death for women during pregnancy and one year after birth.
"Singing is clinically proven to reduce symptoms of postnatal depression faster than the usual forms of treatment."
One happy member of the group explains why.
Sarah Wilcox said: It gives women some much-needed time and a sacred space to relax, breathe, learn a new skill and focus on ‘being in the moment’, which reduces stress and improves mood."
For more information and to join the group email kate@musikate.co.uk.
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