![Sesión de musicoterapia en el Instituto Guttmann de Badalona con Anna (musicoterapeuta) y Andrea (logopeda) con dos niños de 7 y 10 años.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 16 9"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Each prenatal music therapy session is different and has different objectives. The sessions are inspired by the model of Gabriel Federico, a focal obstetric music therapist, which is the model in which Natalia Arisa has specialized and is recognized internationally by the World Federation of Music Therapy. Apart from promoting maternal-fetal connection, prenatal music therapy also serves to reduce maternal anxiety and decrease postpartum depression. In achieving these three objectives, it is important to note, says Arisa, that "it is not just one or two sessions, but that the sessions are weekly and last two months, which allows for follow-up." The consolidation of the mother-child bond occurs above all if the mother is relaxed and listens to live music that she likes, which, explains Arisa, "is transmitted to the developing baby via hormones, with emotions; via sensory, with vibrations, and via hearing, since we know that the baby begins to feel the heart, the mother's steps, and then progressively, the mother's voice and the usual sounds and voices of the environment."
The Wednesday appointment that pregnant workers at Hospital del Mar don't miss
Music therapy sessions during pregnancy promote bonding with the baby and prevent both maternal anxiety and postpartum depression
BarcelonaOn Wednesdays, pregnant workers at the Hospital del Mar centres have an appointment with Dr Natàlia Arisa, from the Occupational Health service, who specialises in prenatal music therapy and music. They do so within the framework of the third edition of the prenatal music therapy course that the hospital service itself has been offering them for almost a year, a project of Arisa's own, which she has developed during her residency. As Dr Joana Guerrero, head of the section of the Occupational Health service at the hospital, points out, it is "a pioneering project that, despite being so necessary in a sector such as healthcare, which is so feminised, has not yet been implemented in any other hospital". Guerrero emphasises, however, that these sessions promote "moments of presence and connection, and materialise the maxim of caring for those who care, the ultimate objective of the programme".
Connection with oneself and with the baby
Each edition of the program lasts two months. The sessions offered – in the morning and afternoon – are 90 minutes long and consist of relaxation activities through sound baths with various instruments, creative visualizations with live music or semi-guided musical listening. The morning that the Creatures Seven pregnant women between 21 and 38 weeks of gestation have the opportunity to join the session. Also Andrea Carpintero, a participant in the second edition of the programme, is attending with her two-month-old son Àlex.
![Pregnant workers at Hospital del Mar taking part in a music therapy workshop.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 3937 2625"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
There, with the lights off, Natalia Arisa asks the participants to close their eyes and connect with their breathing. Meanwhile, she plays a relaxing melody on the keyboard. A few moments later, she surrounds them while making a nearby rain stick sound. She repeats the operation with a Tibetan tale, a koshi and a kigonki. After a while, Arisa turns on the lights and asks the participants where they have traveled during these sound baths. Almost all agree that it is in the waves of the sea or in their bed at home. They also say that their babies move a lot during the session. All except Sena, who seems to relax with the music he feels from the womb. Àlex, the baby present, has also relaxed.
Make tribe
It's time to do the belly wheel. Natalia encourages pregnant women to stand up and join their bellies. Meanwhile, she sings a lullaby on the keyboard. This image best illustrates another of the course's objectives, to create a space for them to share how they feel and what emotions they are going through at this stage." For María Polo, a clinical psychologist at the hospital and 38 weeks pregnant at the time, the decisive fact for joining it is precisely ". the edition, states that the activities that benefit her especially are those that allow her to relax "and have a moment to stop, which also allows her to connect with the baby." she says and, in this case, notices how she calms down. from the hospital and 36 weeks pregnant at the time, the fact of doing the sessions with other pregnant women means that they can also share concerns, which "after all are quite common." Fernández admits that, when she heard about prenatal music therapy sessions, "initially I didn't really know what to expect." However, since she likes music, she decided to give them a chance. "Now, the truth is that I am very happy," she says. "Personally, relaxation techniques help me a lot, because sometimes, with the whirlwind of everyday life, you never really focus, but these moments allow you to ground yourself a little, stop and connect with the baby," she says.
Participants from other editions
Andrea Carpintero, a participant in the second edition, was also at the session. She came with her two-month-old son, Àlex. Towards the end of each edition, the team in charge of the programme always invites former participants. "Natalia always invites us and we try to join in whenever logistics allow. She continues to look after us, the workers, and I am very grateful to her," Carpintero admits. Due to a "complicated pregnancy", this clinical nurse had already been on sick leave for some time when she was given the opportunity to join the sessions, so, she points out, this space gave her "a connection with motherhood and with the baby." The sessions shared between pregnant women and new mothers can also serve, says Carpintero, to "ask questions that sometimes you don't have a place to ask because you don't have other maternity networks." Thus, during the edition in which she participated, she remembers how she shared how she felt and never felt judged: "The others listened to me and I felt liberated."
About sixty participants
"I have never felt so cared for as I have now, until maternity, a very complex period mentally and physically, so the fact that the company where you work offers you this is priceless," says Carpintero. The nurse makes explicit reference to the fact that the initiative has been launched by the Hospital's own Occupational Health service, in the context of the La Mar de Saludable programme. A differential fact that explains the good reception it has had by the workers, including doctors, lawyers, psychologists, nurses, nursing assistants and speech therapists. A project whose consolidation means that a fourth edition is already planned for March, in which there are already twenty women enrolled. "The forecasts - says Natàlia Arisa - are that in April, when the project is one year old, around sixty will have already passed." At the end of the programme, if they have attended a minimum of 80% of the sessions, all will receive a certificate accredited by Continuing Education that counts towards their professional career.
