Ancestral singing. For childbirth - with a song! What is the power of an expectant mother's singing?

This technique was recommended to women in labor by midwives. Not knowing about the exact technique of the influence of voice accompaniment of childbirth on the body of the woman giving birth, they advised not to scream, but to sing or pray. In Rus' there was a belief that pregnant women and women in labor should not talk much at all. The vow of silence during childbirth was especially carefully required. But voice accompaniment of childbirth in the form of recitatives, songs or prayers was welcomed.

No noise and dust

Scientific facts about how screaming affects a woman in labor and the birth process are well known. At the same time, women are still allowed to vote, but screaming (strongly, strainedly) is strongly discouraged. And that's why.

Childbirth is a fairly energy-intensive process that requires considerable strength from a woman. As well as a strong cry. Don't waste precious energy into the air. It is vital for your child - you have to help him move along the birth canal during pushing.
In addition, when you scream with all your might, additional tension is created in the abdominal cavity, as well as in the pelvic muscles, which only increases the pain from contractions.

If you continue to cry during the actual birth of your baby, it may make it difficult for you to concentrate and listen to the midwife's instructions, which are aimed at ending the labor as quickly as possible and ensuring its safety for you and the baby.

They say that first-time mothers are afraid of labor pain because they are not yet familiar with it, and those who give birth again - because they know about it first-hand. The desire to avoid unpleasant sensations pushes women to take a variety of medicinal pain-relieving procedures, including cesarean section. But few people know that the ability to give birth is easily inherent in every woman. You need to use it!

Sing, mommy, sing!

The slight analgesic effect of voice accompaniment of childbirth is ensured by relaxing the muscles involved in sound production (as with a sonorous exhalation, and not with a strong cry). This, in turn, leads to relaxation of the body, which helps relax the birth canal.

During childbirth, emancipation and the opening of consciousness are very important, which helps the body to open, in this case the birth canal. Turning to voice exercises often helps relieve bodily tension and thereby achieve greater liberation.

With a sharp cry, the diaphragm (the membrane between the space for the lungs and the abdominal cavity) seems to hit the uterus, which can lead to a disruption in the rhythm of contractions, which in obstetrics is called discoordination of labor. But with gradual, monotonous singing, this does not happen: the sound goes into space in a sound (mechanical) continuous wave perpendicular to the tension of the uterus, weakening it and thereby reducing pain.

Fear and stress can contribute to the development of weakness of labor, which will make stimulation necessary. When using stimulants, contractions become more frequent and painful.

Tunes

To master vocalization - generic singing - it is important to know that it must occur in tune with the work of your body. All sounds are sung as you exhale during a contraction, which is called in one breath. Simply put, you breathe with sound. To achieve maximum relaxation, use the vowel sounds “a-a-a”, “o-o-o”, “u-u-u”, “uh-uh” in any body position that is convenient for you. When singing the sound, direct it into the depths of your body. It will turn out deep, soft, vibrating.

Breathing is done through the stomach, not the chest.
In the art of midwifery, it was recommended to sing not only individual vowel sounds, but also recitatives (short songs composed in a certain way - a fragment of melodic speech from a vocal-musical work), as well as prayer texts, or, in Eastern practice, mantras. The latter are also one of the modern types of voice accompaniment of childbirth.

During relaxation, the birth process proceeds correctly, the oxygen deficiency that the baby experiences during contractions decreases, the hemodynamic parameters and the emotional state of the woman are normalized. With the correct course of the birth process (and this depends 80% on the woman herself!), the likelihood of complications, including birth injuries, decreases.

You have to love childbirth

From a psychological point of view, strong, loud screams indicate a woman’s negative attitude towards the pain of labor, and fear, stress and rejection of the natural processes occurring in the body during childbirth cause even more tension and thereby further intensify the pain. Soft, but powerful, low sounds coming from the depths of the body relax the maxillofacial muscles and the muscles of the larynx.
These sounds, emitted spontaneously by a woman during childbirth, indicate concentration on the processes occurring inside, on entering the flow of sensations, accepting them, and contribute to a successful delivery. They can soften discomfort and relieve pain from contractions.

Say "Om!"

To perform this birth mantra correctly, sit on the edge of a chair with your legs wide apart. It is better to rest your hands on your knees, slightly tilting your relaxed body forward.

After an intense inhalation - “oh-oh-oh!” followed by a long slow exhalation with a low deep chest sound - “mm-mm”, even with a slight hoarseness. Make sure that the sound is concentrated not in the nasal sinuses, but behind the sternum. In this case, a characteristic small vibration occurs in the trachea. And as you exhale smoothly and calmly, your body relaxes and calms down. You get the feeling that your whole body is breathing and singing, every centimeter of it.

When you feel that the exhalation has ended, calmly repeat the inhalation - “oh-oh-oh!” and following it is a long, unhindered, calm, gentle exhalation with a quiet lowing free chest sound - “mm-mm!”

Better in chorus

In some countries, there are “singing” maternity hospitals, where choral singing of expectant mothers and fathers is practiced. Music and singing provide psychological and muscular relaxation, which leads to normalization of the processes of inhibition and excitation in the brain, and is reflected on the electroencephalogram as the appearance of a stable alpha rhythm, characteristic of a state of rest and internal harmony.

"Motion sickness"

After you have mastered the “om-mm-mm-mm” mantra-meditation, add monotonous body swaying back and forth to the chanting. Rhythmic movements and sounds lead to an altered state of consciousness, the so-called trance, in which the body's resources increase, which is important for a woman giving birth. During pregnancy, such movements are useful for uterine tension. The belly “sags” and the baby appears to be hanging in a hammock. When combined with abdominal breathing, the uterus quickly relaxes. Practice at any stage of pregnancy and during childbirth as a dynamic meditation.

It is worth learning vocalization during pregnancy. They have a relaxing and calming effect. In addition, this is a way to communicate with a child who likes mother's calm songs and regular belly rubs.

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In the early period of the formation of Christian worship, the holy fathers expressed different opinions regarding the role of music and the singing of psalms and hymns. Thus, Saint Athanasius of Alexandria believed that church singing does not promote spiritual concentration. On the contrary, Saints Basil the Great and John Chrysostom considered church melodies as a way to better comprehend church poetry. Indeed, along with the formation of various liturgical rites, various styles of chanting texts take shape and develop, and church music becomes one of the main components of the Christian liturgical ritual. . Over the course of several centuries, different Churches adhering to the Byzantine liturgical tradition formed their own different directions in the field of church music. This happened both under the influence of transformations in culture as a whole, and due to changes in aesthetic ideas about church singing. But with all the diversity of views and approaches, music, the “sounding” of hymnographic texts, is an invariable part of a single whole - church worship.

Byzantine singing

The Byzantine singing tradition developed mainly on the basis of the ancient heritage. Thus, there is reason to believe that various sound series (sequences of sounds constructed in such a way that this is reflected in the intonation coloring of the melody) that existed in ancient Greek music have been preserved. At least this can be judged on the basis of the modern Greek singing tradition, in which different chants are sung in different “sound colors”.

Despite this assumption, it must be said that the Church Fathers probably might not have supported the “invasion” of certain ancient modes into church music, based on the teaching about their effect on the listener. Thus, Saint Clement of Alexandria noted:

“We must choose melodies imbued with dispassion and chastity; melodies that soften and relax the soul cannot harmonize with our courageous and generous way of thinking and disposition.<…>Therefore, we will provide the softening sounds of chromatic music to people who organize dirty revelries, and to heterosexuals who have the duty to decorate themselves with all colored people.” Clement of Alexandria, Saint. Teacher. M., 1996.

But we can say with a greater degree of confidence that such characteristic features of the pagan period as playing the aulos and cithara were decisively rejected.

The development of church music was associated with the largest liturgical centers - Jerusalem and Constantinople. It was there that new genres of church poetry took shape, forms of recording church melodies were created, and different styles of singing texts (simple or more complex, lengthy) were formed. Finally, by the 7th century, the system of Byzantine osmoglasiya was formalized, that is, a system of chanting church texts in eight different “tunes” (voices) and melodies. Unfortunately, it is impossible to imagine exactly how chants were performed even during the period when the form of recording melodies appeared, that is, from the 10th century. The reason is that many features of church singing were preserved for a long time in oral form and were not reflected in writing. However, the conservatism of church music allows us to cautiously assume that modern chants of Churches following Byzantine liturgical practice are composed on the basis of the Byzantine singing heritage and reflect the traditions of church music of the Byzantine Empire.

Kontakion to Saint Nile of Grottaferrata (Byzantine chant) Performed by: Cappella Romana ensemble, director - Alexander Lingas. Cappella Romana

Znamenny chant

The Old Russian liturgical tradition - the so-called znamenny chant (the name comes from the signs, in Slavic “banners” with which music was recorded) - due to the circumstances of the Baptism of Rus', developed on the basis of Byzantine church culture, despite the possible and partly confirmed -awaited contact with the tradition of Western Gregorian monophonic singing Gregorian chant- liturgical one-voice singing accepted in the Roman Catholic Church. It received its name thanks to Pope Gregory I the Great (590-604), who collected the chants of the liturgical routine together. at a very early stage. Initially, services in the Russian Church were performed in Greek and by Greek singers. The Tale of Bygone Years speaks of the arrival in Kyiv after the official adoption of Christianity of the “bishop of Korsun from the Tsarina’s priest,” that is, the clergy and clergy of Greek origin.

Until the 11th century, in all likelihood, Old Russian church singing developed in oral form. In any case, the first manuscript, which records chants in the Slavic language with notation signs indicating certain melodies, dates back only to the turn of the 11th-12th centuries “Typographical Charter: Charter with Kondakar” (late 11th - early 12th centuries) is the oldest Slavic singing manuscript.. Having accepted and assimilated the main features of the Byzantine church singing tradition (the system of osmoglasis, the form of notation, various styles of chanting and texts and special genres), Old Russian church singing transformed over time in content , because it developed in a different cultural environment. For this reason, the classical Znamenny chant, which developed by the 15th century (and whose chants, unlike more ancient examples, can be deciphered), has significant differences from its Byzantine prototypes. For example, unique intonations, inherent in the Russian musical tradition, appeared; Some notation signs have been rethought or their meaning has changed.

Easter stichera (znamenny chant) Performed by: Konstantin Pavlov. Riga Old Believer community (recorded by Tatiana Vladyshevskaya, 1969). T. F. Vladyshevskaya

An important feature of znamenny singing, borrowed from the Byzantine tradition, was the use of a body of certain melodic formulas - “chants”, musical phrases characteristic of a certain voice (chant). From them, as in a poem that consists entirely of lines from other poems (centon), their own composition of chants was formed.

Until the middle of the 16th century, all works of the Znamenny chant remained anonymous, however, throughout the 16th-17th centuries, various versions of the already established traditional chants of the Znamenny chant appeared, indicating “in chant”, “in rozvod” (that is, “another chant”, “other interpretation") or even with an inscription of the origin of the chant (“Trinity”, “Kirillov”, “Usolsky”) or the name of the singer (“Christianinov”, that is, the priest Theodore the Peasant; “Isaiah Lukoshko”; “Varla-amovo” , that is, Archimandrite Varlaam (Rogov). Despite the fact that the role of the author’s principle was reduced to either a change in composition (a change in the traditional sequence of “singing songs”), or to the variant singing of some melodic turns, these changes in the singing style culture indicate a gradual transition from the medieval era to modern times.

Travel chant

Over time, the music becomes more complex, filled with decorations, and at the end of the 15th century it takes shape in new styles of chants - large (spacious, rich in long chants of each syllable), demestial (probably from the word “domestic” - choir leader and teacher of church singing, - since the style originated among the grand ducal and bishop choristers, connoisseurs of church singing art), travel The exact origin of the term is unknown. According to one of the most common versions, the name could be due to the fact that it was formed on the road - for example, when the sovereign's singing clerks accompanied the king on campaigns. The so-called Kazan notation, which was used to record songs of this style, may have developed during the Kazan campaigns of Ivan the Terrible.. This happens, perhaps, not without the influence of the heyday of calophonicism, which began in the 14th century in Byzantium (from gr. kalos- “beautiful” and phone- “voice, sound”) is an art that requires a very high level of training of performers.

Thus, having grown out of the Znamenny, the travel chant is distinguished by a significant length of composition and a large number of musical decorations.

“It is worthy to eat” (travel chant) Performed by: A. E. Malyshev, E. I. Malysheva, I. I. Krivonogova. Old Believer community of the village of Rayushi (recorded by Tatyana Vladyshevskaya, 1971). T. F. Vladyshevskaya

Three lines

Already from the 16th century and throughout at least the first half of the 17th century, a peculiar polyphonic singing style, called lowercase or three-stringed, was spreading in the worship of the Russian Church: it consisted and was recorded in the form of three melodic lines that were sung simultaneously. (Remember: before this, one-voice reigned.) Three-line verse is characterized by a special ratio of voices that do not form harmonious chords, but, as if intertwined, form an original dissonant one (from Lat. dissonantia- “cacophony, discordant sound”) harmony. It can be compared to the ringing of Russian bells - similar tart, unusual harmonies.

“I am born to the Lord Jesus” (stichera for the Nativity of Christ, tone 2; three lines)

Partes concert

This style developed during the “Russian Baroque” period under the influence of the Western musical tradition, which came to us through the southern Russian tradition, mainly through Kyiv. By the end of the 17th century, the original Russian polyphonic style (three lines) was replaced by the Western type of polyphony - the so-called partes style, that is, singing in parts. It is interesting that apologists of the new style assessed the three-line polyphony that preceded it negatively, speaking of the inconsistency of voices, “composed by illiterate men” “...The disagreement was compiled by a certain ancient man who knew little grammar. The same voices are three, each having a rank: the bottom, and the path, and the top, and in one disagreement” (A. Rogov. Musical aesthetics of Russia XI-XVIII centuries. M., 1973)..

Partes singing developed in two directions. Firstly, harmonizations of traditional single-voice chants were created: voices were added to the main voice of the melody - as a rule, one upper and two lower ones. Moreover, not only znamenny, but also southern Russian methods of chanting, also used in liturgical practice - Kievan, Bulgarian, Greek - were harmonized. Secondly, the authors wrote so-called a cappella partes concertos (for 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 voices), created under the influence and model of baroque choral concerts of German, Italian and Polish compositions. thors of the 17th century.

Gradually there was a reorientation of aesthetic tastes in performance. Thus, Pavel of Aleppo, who accompanied the Patriarch of Antioch on a journey through Ukraine to Moscow, noted in his lengthy description of everything he saw and heard that the Ukrainians, in whose church singing culture a new polyphonic style had already been developed, “sang sweetly and drawn-out chanting,” while Russian singers “have a rough, thick, bassy voice that does not give pleasure to the listener” The journey of the Patriarch of Antioch Macarius to Russia in the middle of the 17th century, described by his son, Archdeacon Paul of Aleppo. M., 1986.. The most famous composer of this period was the singing clerk Vasily Titov, whose compositions are characterized by a special polyphonic grandeur and majesty.

“Heavenly King” (6th voice, early partes polyphony) Performed by: ensemble “Sirin”, director – Andrey Kotov. "Sirin" Vasily Titov. “It is worthy to eat” (partes concert) Performed by Rose Ensemble, directed by Jordan Sramek. Ensemble Rose

Author's compositions and harmonizations of church chants in the 18th-19th centuries

In the second half of the 18th century, the church singing culture of the Russian Church was influenced by the Italian polyphonic tradition, which was associated with its flourishing in Europe in general and the Russian fashion for everything European in particular.

For several decades, the Court Singing Chapel - a choral school that originated from the choir of the sovereign's singing clerks - was led by Italian musicians: Baltassare Galuppi, Giuseppe Sarti, etc. In addition, Russian composers, for example Maxim Berezovsky, Dmitry Bortnyansky, received musical education in Italy. All this led to the formation of the Italian style in church choral music. The predominant genre in the work of these composers and their contemporaries was the choral concert, which could be performed, for example, during the liturgy, in the pause before communion (despite the decree of the Holy Synod of 1797, which prohibited the performance of chants in the genre of such a concert at the liturgy). .

Dmitry Bortnyansky. "Cherub" Performed by: the joint choir of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary, regent - Archimandrite Matthew (Mormyl). Trinity-Sergius Lavra

In the 19th century, harmonization (remember, this is when upper and lower voices are added to the main voice of the melody) of traditional one-voice chants - Kiev, Greek (for example, created by the composer Fyodor Petrovich Lvov and, later, Nikolai Ivanovich) became widespread Bakhmetev).

The last director of the Synodal School, which trained singers of the Synodal Choir, Alexander Dmitrievich Kastalsky, is unique in his special style of harmonization of ancient monophonic chants. Unlike his predecessors, he assigned the main role to the original ancient melody, without changing it or distorting the traditional tune to suit the established norms of harmonization.

Alexander Kastalsky. “Worldwide glory” (dogmatist, voice 1) Performed by: male choir under the direction of Hieromonk Ambrose (Nosov).
Dogmatic - a short chant of dogmatic content dedicated to the Mother of God. VGTRK "Culture"

The development of its own church singing tradition was practically mothballed, since the Court Singing Chapel had the right to censor all spiritual and musical compositions.

The situation changed only after the Kapella’s lawsuit with the publisher Pyotr Ivanovich Jurgenson, who dared to publish Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Liturgy, free from the established rules of the generally accepted harmonic language, without the permission of the director of the Court Singing Chapel (Jurgenson won the case, and the Kapella’s monopoly ended ).

Singing styles in the modern Russian Church

Now in the Russian Church, the dominant trend in church music is polyphonic singing, which, as a rule, represents harmonies of chants of the Kiev chant (the South Russian branch of Znamenny chant, formed on the territory of Ukraine) with the inclusion of author’s compositions .

In the last couple of decades, traditional monophonic chants have become widespread again in church singing practice. In this area, there are two schools, the first of which is completely focused on the revival of Znamenny chant in the Russian Church (this tradition was preserved in the worship of Old Believer churches), while the second represents the experience of transcribing the chants of the modern Greek tradition into Church Slavonic. This is due to interest in the history of church culture and singing tradition in particular, which was lost during the years of the USSR. In addition, the single-voice style is considered more in-depth, conducive to a prayerful state, and the text sung in a single-voice chant is more understandable than those sung in a polyphonic style (in some original compositions, often with echoes or repetitions of words).

See also materials: "" and "" from the course "". 

Irina Kleshchina

Women preparing for childbirth mostly hear that you shouldn’t scream during contractions - it takes away your breath, takes away your strength, scares you, and doctors don’t like it. As a result, they try, as much as possible, to endure any pain stoically, without uttering a groan. In the meantime, using the voice can be a powerful tool to relieve pain and speed up opening. And, conversely, the desire to control sound disrupts the natural course of labor and prevents the dilation of the cervix. So why is there such confusion on this issue?

As with many other problems, the point here is that women have forgotten how to give birth, have stopped listening to their body and following its needs. In ancient times, the possibilities of using the voice were known to everyone. There is evidence that Egyptian women sang psalms during childbirth, and Plato mentions that midwives of that time had special songs in their arsenal that they used when working with women in labor. And even in our time, those few who manage to completely immerse themselves in the process, forget fears and embarrassment, abandon any attempts at control, cannot give birth in silence - at a certain stage they begin to “sound” - moan, howl, hum, growl, emit low guttural roar. Experienced midwives can judge by the sounds made by a woman in labor what stage she is at, how she feels, what is the condition of the birth canal and whether the baby is moving.

Let's try to explain why these sounds are needed and how they help.

◊ The “sound” is liberating. In ordinary life, we are used to controlling our voice, suppressing the desire to scream, making sharp and loud sounds, creating tension and pockets of tension. Childbirth is a natural process, for it to go naturally, you need to give up such control, and first of all, give yourself permission to use any sounds. In this case, the reverse chain can work: by starting to sing or “hum,” you will relax the body, because while singing a person always feels more relaxed and free.

◊ “Sound” promotes disclosure. The cervix is ​​controlled by the parasympathetic nervous system, similarly, endings of this type predominate in the area of ​​the face, neck and vocal cords. Doctors say that the reactions of these areas are connected - if a woman tenses her face and compresses her lips, then the cervix also spasms. Grantley Dick-Read also wrote that the most important and difficult thing in the relaxation technique is learning to relieve tension from the muscles of the face. Voice - humming or free singing allows you to cope with this task.

◊ Singing has a beneficial effect on all organs. When singing, sound waves are created, and most of them are absorbed by the body of the person who reproduces them. Back in 1960, singer Marie-Louise Oscher stated that the voice can be used in therapy: as a result of singing, vibrations are created that affect various organs and also have a psychological effect. You can read about the experience of using such sound therapy in Michel Auden’s book “Revived Childbirth”. A follower of this technique, midwife Chantal Verdier, found that singing helps pregnant women cope with toxicosis, relieve the tone of the uterus, establish a connection with the baby, and during childbirth, relax the transverse muscles of the uterus and facilitate the dilation of the cervix. Singing exercises train breathing, which is necessary to provide the body (both mother's and child's) with oxygen; such skills will be useful during childbirth, when measured, relaxed breathing is especially important.

◊ The low sounds and vibrations that occur when singing affect the pelvic bones and pelvic floor muscles, helping to prepare for childbirth and facilitating the movement of the baby through the birth canal.

◊ Singing or long sounds make breathing deep, as it should be during childbirth. It is usually recommended to try to carry out the contraction while exhaling - if you exhale with sound, it will be much easier, even when the contractions become long.

◊ Singing promotes the production of endorphins, which have pain-relieving properties.

The only sounds that do not help, but hinder, are a high-pitched scream that turns into a squeal. This is evidence of panic, that the woman is not in a special state of altered consciousness and is not listening to her body. Sometimes, in order to calm down, it is recommended to specifically start making a low hum and breathe deeply - the “relaxation - deep breathing” connection is triggered. If we are talking about the second stage of labor (pushing), then the low sounds made by the woman in labor are evidence of the work of the diaphragm, while a high-pitched cry does not make it possible to push well.

If you have limited yourself in the freedom of sounds all your life, then during childbirth it can be difficult to readjust and relax, so it is better to train your “sounding” in advance:

◊ It’s good if you studied vocals and can restore your skills, or are ready to take up this business as a beginner (you don’t need to have any inclinations for this, the goal is to learn proper breathing and use of the voice).

◊ You can try different sounds: humming, low singing “A” and others. At the same time, listen to your body - how it responds, different sounds, what relaxes it, and what tones it.

◊ If you feel tension that cannot be removed by singing, you can resort to facial massage, which eliminates tension, and try “sounding” after the session.

Observations show that pregnant women who practice singing are more balanced and emotionally stable, suffer less from mood swings, and through singing they establish a connection with the child. Thus, such classes can be useful not only for future births.

A video that mentions the sound and gives an example of a generic song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-z-wu3yvxo

If you are interested in the practical side of the issue and you live in the Samara region, you can conduct the training “Sound Revealing”

“Singing during childbirth helps reduce pain,” say the organizers of the experiment, conducted in a maternity hospital in the Italian city of Mantua.

Italian obstetricians, together with the doctor of musicology Elisa Benessi, studied the effect of singing on the level of pain during contractions. It turns out that if you sing at any stage of labor, the pain noticeably decreases.
According to Elisa Benassi, observation of women in labor showed that singing can alleviate the condition of women to a very significant extent.

“During singing, the body produces a large amount of endorphin, the so-called “hormone of joy,” which has a calming, balancing effect on the body and helps to relax the muscles.

Singing during childbirth has long been used in Indian and Moroccan cultures.

Of course, for those who regularly practice vocals or, especially, sing professionally, it will probably not be too difficult to perform something during childbirth. But what to do if your vocal abilities let you down? Scientists believe that this is not a hindrance - singing can be very quiet.

“But you should approach the choice of melodies carefully - after all, with these sounds the mother greets the baby coming into the world, and it is important what he hears at these moments.

Singing is, you see, a good substitute for anesthesia! Moreover, you can rehearse the entire repertoire in advance; expectant mothers have a whole 9 months to do this.

By the way, scientists are studying other possibilities for the “medical” use of singing: there are hypotheses about its preventive role in preventing cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Plato wrote that at one time midwives sang special songs during childbirth, without which no therapeutic procedures had an effect.

In Egypt, women sang psalms during labor. But then this wisdom, like many others, was forgotten, and only in 1960, thanks to the singer Marie-Louise Oscher, we rediscovered the beneficial effects of singing.

After a long study of the effect of sounds on the human body, Osher came to the conclusion that the voice can be used for therapeutic purposes. The fact is that the vibrations caused by the voice spread through the bones of the skeleton, which are ideal conductors of sounds. Her method, called psychophony, is based on the influence of emitted sounds on various parts of the body and has both a physical and psychological effect.

Midwife Chantal Verdier, who continued Osher's work, came to the conclusion that singing helps the expectant mother establish a closer connection with her unborn baby. Moreover, singing during pregnancy helps to cope with toxicosis or reduce the tone of the uterus. With further research, it was possible to establish that singing also has a beneficial effect on the course of childbirth. When a woman knows how to properly direct her breathing and energy, making increasingly lower sounds, childbirth is easier, since singing helps relax the transverse muscles of the uterus, facilitates the opening of the cervix and makes contractions more productive. Thus, singing is an excellent alternative to drug management of childbirth, along with homeopathy, aromatherapy, acupuncture, etc.

Firstly, don’t be alarmed; you don’t necessarily need to be able to sing or have perfect pitch.

This is how a prenatal singing session takes place in a special center for pregnant women.

The session begins with relaxation and light self-massage. Using your fingertips, you need to massage the bone areas of the body that play the role of a “resonator” - the face, chest, pelvis. The expectant mother relaxes and yawns. This stimulates blood circulation and allows the sound to resonate better.

Then the actual work with the voice begins: first, vocalises are sung, allowing you to relax the jaw, then the sounds are sent to other parts of the body - they seem to “massage” the body from the inside. The main goal is to make breathing calmer and deeper, promoting a better supply of oxygen to the muscles of the uterus and the fetus itself. Such exercises, by the way, help women cope with shortness of breath, which is often inherent in pregnant women. In addition, you can even learn how to “intoxicate” yourself with oxygen, which helps you switch off during contractions.

The last part of the session takes place in actual singing, and the songs can be completely different. Singing relieves women emotionally; it helps them cope with worries, fears and worries. It has been found that women who sing during pregnancy are more emotionally balanced and less susceptible to sudden mood swings, as they transfer their emotions into singing. The fact is that sound vibrations at the brain level increase the production of endorphins, the famous hormones of pleasure.