I have no scientific papers here to quote about pregnancy and voice,
just my experience as a mother of two (may I add, the most adorable
children in the world ;) ). I'm not a full-time professional singer,
although I sing and perform regularly (vocal ensemble Lumen Valo).
With my first child, Henri (b. 21st Dec. 1993), I sang until the night
before he was born. He did recognize the song I had practiced the most
when he was born :) With my second child, Anni (b. 6th March 1999), I
had something in the ligaments (???) so I couldn't walk or sit or
stand without considerable pain for a couple of weeks in the
end-pregnancy. Luckily, I had decided to start my maternity leave
months before the due date (easier for the replacement, a wonderful
contratenor). This was not exactly something that affected my voice,
it's just that I couldn't do much else than to stick to the horizontal
position!
There can be unexpected things that happen during a pregnancy. Morning
sickness in the beginning, perhaps a really frequent need to go to the
toilet in the end. Depending on what you are working with, it is a
good idea to talk to some people beforehand about your possible need
of sometimes getting a replacement on a short notice.
With my first one, I had almost no morning sickness; with my second, I
had morning sickness anytime of the day. I remember one concert in
Germany, in early pregnancy. The concert went well, but afterwards we
had a dinner with the organizers. After the meal, I was feeling so
sick I had to run to the bathroom, and then come back happily smiling
(added some lipstick) to make a "Vielen Dank" speech (I was the one
with most fluent German)...
Here are some ideas:
Try to avoid cesarean section. Choose a caregiver with a low rate of
c/s, or get a home birth with a midwife, if that is an option in your
area. It takes longer to recover from a c/s, it is a big operation and
the muscles are affected. A singer does not want that to happen. The
c/s rate varies greatly, but on average it is done pretty easily in
the US, compared with other "Western" countries (and the outcome
generally is better in those other countries).
Do breastfeed, if at all possible. Get help from a certified lactation
consultant, if needed. After all, it was the way it was meant to be,
your body is programmed to breastfeed a considerable amount of time,
and if you are making a living with your body (voice), it's good to
try to do things the natural way. Statistically, it reduces the sick
days for both you and the baby. Plus, you get back to your normal size
quicker. And, breastfeeding gives you opportunities to rest and read!
I've read numerous books during my numerous hours of breastfeeding.
And doing the internet thing is something you can do in the meanwhile,
too.
Get yourself a GOOD sling and learn how to use it! Sling is a piece of
cloth, a traditional carrying device that makes the life of the
parents so much easier. I have the Rolls Royce of the slings, Didymos
(www.didymos.com) but there are many others, and most of them are more
inexpensive. There are bad slings too, so get some information before
making a purchase. With a sling, you can attach the baby to your body
so that you hardly notice you're carrying anything. Then, you can
practise and sing as much as you like without disturbing the baby, as
s/he's sleeping in the sling. You don't have to worry about waking
her/him up, because s/he is so used to your making noise that s/he
hardly notices when you start singing those arias, and if s/he does
wake up, you can easily sing and carry him/her back to sleep. I've
also sang some informal performances with Anni in the sling, in a
couple of weddings, and I've been to numerous ensemble rehearsals with
Anni comfortably in the sling.
Learn to sleep together with the baby, and while you are
breastfeeding. Get all the rest you need. Family bed is a great option
for getting the rest. Dr. Sears advocates family bed and has good
advice on how to make it work (he has books like The Baby Book,
Breastfeeding, and Nighttime Parenting). We put our big bed towards
the wall, and then I put the baby between the wall and me, and husband
on my other side. The baby didn't even have to cry before I could
already tell she was hungry (the crying is a late signal, they give
all kinds of signals already before that) and stick the breast to her
mouth, and then we would both continue sleeping. Family bed is an age
old thing, it's just the last couple of hundred of years that we have
come to see sleeping separately as a norm, even though it is such an
odd concept for a species like ours.
If you need to travel in your work, try to arrange so that you can
take the baby and a trusted babysitter with you. The baby needs you,
and you need the baby. If you know the baby is not far away from you,
and you can get to the baby as soon as the rehearsal /performance is
over, you can concentrate better on what you are doing, and not worry
so much.
Having a baby will change your life. Period. You will never be the
same. Period. In the beginning, it's pretty easy to take the baby with
you everywhere etc, but as they grow up, it gets more complicated. And
this is just the surface... Consider this as a warning, and as a
promise!
Sorry, this turned out to be more about the singer and the baby than
about the pregnancy, but you know, pregnancy is just the very
beginning, it is the rest that is more of a challenge, for singer and
non-singer alike. Trust me! :)
Hanna G from Finland
mother to Henri 12/93 and Anni 3/99
hanna.graeffe@h...
hanna.graeffe@h...
www.lumenvalo.fi --> I'm the one on the right in the picture at
www.lumenvalo.fi/kuva.htm
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