VIEW, Issue 47, 2018
www.viewdigital.org
Page 20
Maeve Brisk, far right, conducts the Mum Chorus at the recent NI Maternal Mental Health conference in Riddel Hall, Belfast Image: Catherine McCusker
Mum who thought about taking her own life tells how choir helped to turn her life around
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mother who contemplated taking her own life after the birth of her third child because of postnatal depression has told VIEW how starting up a choir has helped to give her a new lease of life. Thirty-two-year old Maeve Brisk said: “I thought about leaving home, about taking my own life because they would better off without me.” The Mum Chorus is a group of 16 women who meet every week in Banbridge to sing and socialise. Children are welcome and at the rehearsal I attended, 14 babies and toddlers played round the performers. On the day I visited the choir sang a number of songs, including I Can See Clearly, Let It Shine and Coldplay's Fix You. Maeve said: “I choose songs with relevant, sometimes poignant, lyrics.” The positive effect on the singers' maternal mental health is backed up by research, said Maeve. “The evidence that music heals is overwhelming, particularly singing in a choir.” She showed me two brain scans on her computer. "You can see the difference, the lit-up areas in the brain of the person making music show that singing boosts the
endorphins or pleasure producing hormones. It’s also something to do with community.” Founding the choir helped Maeve to navigate her experiences of perinatal ill health. She said: “When I set it up 18 months ago, it helped my recovery. “It was good to be back singing, something I'd done when I took my music degree in Cardiff. I was still having counselling though and not totally coping. My relationship with my husband was at risk but my mother-in-law, who's a therapist, stayed for a week and gave me an action plan. I did some CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and started to treat my depression as a physical illness." The Mum Chorus has won recognition, performing at the recent Northern Ireland Maternal Mental Health Conference in Belfast. Between 10 to 15 percent of women suffer from postnatal depression and some of the singers have had their own brushes with maternal mental illness. Denise McKeown (38), who was at the choir practice with her two-year-old Ruben and baby daughter Martha, said she had experienced postnatal
depression. “I remember I got the baby blues on day three. I tried to battle through on my own but was very weepy. Breastfeeding was difficult and I was hardly getting any sleep. My GP asked had I bonded with my son but I didn’t understand what he meant. As I wasn’t communicating with him, I started singing each time I changed his nappy.” That was the communication, and when Denise saw the Mum Chorus perform, she said it touched her. She signed up for 10-week course Maeve ran in her area and now travels to Banbridge as a member of the choir. “It helped to lift me out of my slump.” And choir member Lesley Hanna (32) said going to the choir's meetings was a “preventative” measure to protect her mental well-being. Maeve has also set up a social enterprise called Mood Sings which provided a range of community based activities. She also works on an inter-generational choir with members from a school and a care home and has ambitious plans for the future. “I feel this has happened for a reason. With so many cutbacks, I'm keen to promote the arts and music as it makes the most difference to people's lives.”