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Contact Information:

Ana Carolina B Estevao 020 7965 7389
carolina.estevao@kcl.ac.uk


Rebecca Bind 020 7965 7389
rebecca.bind@kcl.ac.uk


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Be Part of Research - Trial Details - Online Singing Interventions for Postnatal Depression in Times of Social Isolation: a Single Arm Study
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Online Singing Interventions for Postnatal Depression in Times of Social Isolation: a Single Arm Study

Not Recruiting

Open to: FEMALE

Age: 18.0 - N/A

London

Medical Conditions

Depression, Postpartum
Depression
Depressive Disorder

This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.


Melodies for Mums (M4M) is an intervention developed and tested as part of a collaboration between the Royal College of Music, Imperial College London and University College London from 2015-2017. The programme involved weekly singing classes for mothers and babies delivered in groups of 8-12 participants in Children's Centres for 10 weeks. M4M was tested in a three-arm RCT involving 134 mothers with PND (with an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score above 10), compared with a comparison group (10 weeks of creative play classes) or care as usual (wait-list control). The study found that mothers with moderate-severe symptoms of PND who participated in the programme with their baby had a significantly faster improvement in symptoms than mothers in usual care. Specifically, the mothers in the singing group had an average EPDS score of 15.7 at baseline (moderate depression), which dropped to 10.3 by week 6 and 9.4 by week 10. This improvement equated to an average 35% decrease in depressive symptoms across the first 6 weeks, by which point 65% of the singing group no longer had an EPDS above 13.

While funding has been secured to upscale this intervention as part of the SHAPER-PND programme, funded by the Wellcome Trust, the recent lockdown has not only halted the programme in its face-to-face format, but also prompted the interest in developing an online version that can be used (1) if the requirement for social distancing, even when the lockdown is relaxed, makes impossible the delivery of the programme; and (2) to broaden the reach to a nationwide delivery and extending to a wider population that may not have been able to attend in-person sessions due to geographical constraints or severity of symptoms.

M4M online is a 6-week intervention for mothers with PND. The original M4M programme would be delivered face-to-face in groups of 8-12 mothers in weekly sessions lasting one hour. However, due to the current situation with COVID-19, we will therefore modify the original face-to-face intervention for this online study, as follows:

* Groups of around 15-17 women to ensure that all participants can be visible on one screen during online delivery to create a stronger community and connection * Offer 6 weeks of intervention, also building on the evidence from the face-to-face intervention that by 6 weeks there is already a significant improvement in depressive symptoms compared with control interventions * Introduce a two-week lead-in period before the beginning of the six-session course, where mothers will be able to use WhatsApp and at least one (monitored) Zoom session to get to know each other.

Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.  

The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:

Jan 2021 Mar 2022

Publications

"Fancourt D, Perkins R. Effect of singing interventions on symptoms of postnatal depression: three-arm randomised controlled trial. Br J Psychiatry. 2018 Feb;212(2):119-121. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2017.29."; "29436333"; "Green P. Risks to children and young people during covid-19 pandemic. BMJ. 2020 Apr 28;369:m1669. doi: 10.1136/bmj.m1669. No abstract available."; "32345583"; "Fancourt D, Steptoe A. Present in Body or Just in Mind: Differences in Social Presence and Emotion Regulation in Live vs. Virtual Singing Experiences. Front Psychol. 2019 Apr 10;10:778. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00778. eCollection 2019."; "31024405"; "Bind RH, Estevao C, Fancourt D, Hazelgrove K, Sawyer K, Rebecchini L, Miller C, Dazzan P, Sevdalis N, Woods A, Crane N, Manoharan M, Burton A, Dye H, Osborn T, Greenwood L, Bakolis I, Lopez MB, Davis R, Perkins R, Pariante CM. Online singing interventions for postnatal depression in times of social isolation: a feasibility study protocol for the SHAPER-PNDO single-arm trial. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2022 Jul 18;8(1):148. doi: 10.1186/s40814-022-01112-1."; "35851430"

INTERVENTIONAL

Intervention Type : BEHAVIORAL
Intervention Description : Classes start with a chat between mothers and the artist. The singing session will include welcome songs, introducing the babies and mothers to one another, and then involve a range of singing and music activities. These will include learning songs from around the world, ranging from short vocal exercises that use "motherese" style noises and sound effects (including sound baths where the mothers sang a sustained note providing a relaxation technique), to simple lullabies that can be picked up very quickly and sung in basic harmonies or rounds, to longer or more complex songs that will be learnt gradually over the weeks. Instruments such as guitar and ukulele will also be used by the artist for a small number of songs. Mothers will also work to write some of their own songs over the weeks, developing lyrics together about their babies or experiences of motherhood and creating simple melodies. Classes will be led by workshop leaders trained by Breathe, with support of assistants.

Intervention Arm Group : Intervention;



You can take part if:



You may not be able to take part if:


This is in the inclusion criteria above


Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.

  • Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, 5 Cutcombe Rd, Brixton, London SE5 9RT
    London
    SE5 9RT

Rebecca Bind 020 7965 7389
rebecca.bind@kcl.ac.uk


Ana Carolina B Estevao 020 7965 7389
carolina.estevao@kcl.ac.uk



The study is sponsored by King's College London and is in collaboration with University College, London.



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Read full details for Trial ID: NCT04857593
Last updated 09 May 2022

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