How drumming supports and empowers the birth journey by Sophie Messager
Pregnancy, birth and the postpartum constitute a profound rite of passage. Expectant families are often guided to seek holistic approaches to enhance their birth experience. One such approach, which is gaining recognition, is the ancient practice of drumming. Almost every culture around the world has (or had) drumming traditions to support life transitions.
Layne Redmond writes about the use of drumming to support birth in her book When the Drummers Were Women. “Priestesses of the Goddess were skilled technicians in its (the frame drum’s) uses,” she says. “They knew which rhythms quickened the life in freshly planted seeds; which facilitated childbirth; and which induced the ecstatic trance of spiritual transcendence.”
Jane Hardwicke-Collings, women’s mysteries teacher and former midwife expands on this. “Drumming for women during pregnancy and labour is a skill and tool to be reclaimed; this is something women have been doing for much, much longer than they haven’t.”
Drumming practices are often perceived as lacking evidence; yet a growing body of research demonstrates significant neurophysiological effects. Studies show that drumming can induce measurable changes in brain activity, hormonal levels, and physiological arousal, including modified states of consciousness, reduced pain, reduced anxiety, and other quantifiable responses of increased wellbeing.
