The Patronising Cure for Postnatal Depression: Apparently, We Just Need to Sing
When I saw the BBC headline, “The surprising therapy that could help lift postnatal depression”, I genuinely thought it was satire. Because apparently, in 2025, the revolutionary treatment for one of the most serious maternal mental-health conditions… is a sing-along.
Ughhh… I really wish I was joking. Both the BBC and The Times reported that group singing sessions can “help lift symptoms” of postnatal depression. And, of course, both pieces were written by men. The irony writes itself.
The Modern Version of “Female Hysteria”
For centuries, women’s pain has been minimised, mislabelled, or mocked. In the 1800s, doctors diagnosed women with hysteria, supposedly caused by a “wandering uterus. Treatments included cold baths, leeches, “pelvic massage,” and institutionalisation. It was pseudoscience built on the belief that women’s emotions were the problem.
Fast-forward two centuries and the pattern persists. Now, instead of leeches, it’s lullabies.
What the Study Actually Found
Globally, up to one in five women may experience postnatal depression, depending on context, diagnostic methods, and population studied. In the UK, the NHS states that postnatal depression affects “more than one in every ten women” within a year of giving birth, though the true figure is likely higher. Self-reporting tools consistently reveal greater prevalence than formal diagnostic interviews, suggesting many cases go undetected or untreated. The research behind the headlines, a small UK trial published in BJPsych Open, involved just 134 women with mild-to-moderate postnatal depression. They were split into three groups:
A weekly singing group
A creative play group
Standard GP care
After ten weeks, the singing group showed slightly faster improvement in mood. That’s it.
No one was “cured.” The researchers never claimed that singing treats postnatal depression, only that it may help lift symptoms for some women in the short term. The study is… fine. It’s the media spin that’s the real problem.
Quick Study Summary
Who: Around 134 new mothers with mild-to-moderate postnatal depression symptoms.
What: Randomised into three groups - group singing (weekly one-hour sessions over ten weeks), creative play (non-singing), and standard GP care.
Findings: The singing group showed faster improvement in mood than the others, particularly during the first six weeks.
Songs: Lullabies and world music (yes, you read that right) - Swahili folk songs and Spanish nursery rhymes.
Conclusion: Singing “may support recovery” from PND by promoting bonding and reducing stress.
Where the Limitations Lie
Tiny sample size.
134 participants is microscopic. Hardly representative of the thousands of women experiencing postnatal depression across diverse demographics, health profiles, and socio-economic contexts, especially when up to one in five globally, and more than one in ten in the UK, are affected.
Short-term data.
Mood improvements were tracked over a 6–10 week window, not long-term outcomes. We don’t know if symptoms returned, evolved, or persisted months later.
Mild-to-moderate PND only.
Women with severe depression, trauma histories, or complex birth experiences were excluded. So it’s not evidence that singing treats postnatal depression, just that it can boost mood for some women under specific conditions.
The real mechanism was connection, not the music.
Women gathered weekly, shared space, rhythm, and breath. That’s called co-regulation of the nervous system, not magic in the melodies. Connection releases oxytocin and endorphins. It’s not “singing heals depression”, it’s “community heals isolation.”
Socio-economic bias.
Participants were predominantly educated, urban, English-speaking mothers, women already more likely to access childcare, transport, and supportive networks. That’s not the reality for the average exhausted mum balancing sleep deprivation, financial strain, and minimal help.
What Really Happened
Let’s be honest, it wasn’t the songs that helped, it was the connection: the shared rhythm, the breathing, the sense of belonging. But “women need physiological regulation and social support to recover from hormonal collapse” doesn’t make a clickable headline. Sadly, “Group singing heals depression” does.
A Mother’s View
Megan, a mum of three (and one of our incredible Tenth Moon models), said it better than any headline ever could:
“It’s honestly disappointing that so many mainstream news outlets still treat post-natal depression like it’s a soft or even quirky issue — as if it’s just ‘the baby blues’ or something that can be fixed with a singalong. That kind of framing is deeply patronising. It downplays the seriousness of what so many women go through and makes it sound like they just need to cheer up or join a choir. Post-natal depression is a complex mental-health condition — not a mood or a moment — and it deserves the same respect, understanding, and evidence-based conversation as any other form of depression.”
Exactly that.
This isn’t about optimism or hobbies. It’s about biology, identity, and the way our culture continues to misunderstand women’s health issues.
What the Coverage Ignores
Let’s be clear about what’s actually wrong here:
1. Written by men, framed for women.
Reducing one of the most complex physiological and psychological experiences on earth to a “feel-good” sing-along is peak mansplaining wellness.
2. Ignores biology.
Postnatal depression isn’t random sadness, it’s biochemical chaos. Oestrogen and progesterone drop off a cliff; iron, zinc, magnesium, and B-vitamins deplete; thyroid and blood-sugar regulation shift. All of that sits on top of sleep deprivation and immense physical recovery.
3. Ignores nervous-system dysregulation.
Birth is a full-body event that can leave the stress response permanently switched on. Without tools to regulate the vagus nerve, to move from ‘fight or flight’ into ‘rest and digest’, calm and connection are almost impossible to access.
4. Ignores identity.
Motherhood dismantles identity overnight. The woman you were before doesn’t exist anymore, and no one warns you how lonely and frightening that can feel. The body changes, the purpose shifts, but the world still expects performance. Meanwhile, many partners return to work, often due to inadequate maternity and paternity pay, and still get to eat lunch in peace. But sure, we call it equality.
5. It’s patronising.
When women cry out for help, we’re told to take a bath, go for a walk, join a group. It’s the modern, pastel-toned version of female hysteria.
The Real Story
So what does work? Real solutions go far beyond surface-level fixes. We need access to functional hormone testing that identifies postnatal imbalances, oestrogen, progesterone, thyroid, cortisol, long before they spiral into burnout or depression. We need progressive therapies that address both biology and identity: integrative psychiatry, trauma-informed counselling, acupuncture, somatic work.
And yes, we still need the simple, powerful foundations: nutrient-dense food, mineral replenishment, movement, breathwork, and nervous-system repair. And, of course, connection.
Yes, singing might help, but postnatal depression isn’t a “mood.” It’s a physiological, emotional, and social crisis, and we need to do better. The mothers I work with aren’t lacking joy; they’re lacking support and guidance.
At TENTH MOON, we don’t treat women like patients who need cheering up. My goal is to help them put the right tools in place during pregnancy so their transition into motherhood is smoother, to teach them about the system they’re birthing within, how to navigate medical gaslighting, how to rebuild on the other side: body, mind, and nervous system, and where to access extra support if they need it. Because postpartum healing deserves more than a song.
Shame on the System - and the Storytellers
Shame on the BBC and The Times. Not for covering maternal mental health, that conversation needs to happen far more often. But for allowing it to be framed so simplistically, and for commissioning men to tell the story. That’s the patriarchy in motion: still deciding what women need, still missing the point.
It’s 2025. Women deserve better.
With love (and zero bullshit),
Sophie x
Founder, TENTH MOON