Mamas and Melodies: Keya Thakkar DRC’27 and Sarah Farah DRC’26 Create Music Therapy Workshop for Postpartum Depression

For aspiring physicians Keya Thakkar DRC’27 and Sarah Farah DRC’26, achieving health equity for postpartum people goes beyond the hospital, research lab, and waiting room. Through their research project, Mamas and Melodies, the two Douglass students are bringing an interdisciplinary approach to expanding access to innovative therapies for those who experience postpartum depression.  

Inspired by research for their Institute for Women’s Leadership social action project, Mamas and Melodies is a community-based music therapy workshop for postpartum parents in New Brunswick. In collaboration with Saint Peter’s Hospital and licensed music therapists, Mamas and Melodies aims to host a free music therapy workshop to with anxiety, postpartum depression, and bonding with infants. The workshop will highlight grounding mindfulness exercises, such as humming, singing, and rhythm techniques that are easily replicable at home. 

“Music therapy might seem simple in theory, but behind that simplicity is something deeply human,” said Keya, a Cell Biology & Neuroscience major with minors in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and American Studies. “We started this project because we saw that, despite having two hospitals right here in the heart of New Brunswick, many mothers struggled to get the help they needed postpartum—not because of a lack of resources, but because of a lack of knowledge about what resources were available and how to access them.”  

The two reviewed postpartum maternal health statistics while working on their social action project. In doing so, they identified a need for therapies that can be used outside the traditional clinical setting. For the past six months, they have collected research that shows that connection, rhythm, and presence can have mental health benefits, and that even simple musical activities can have measurable effects on stress and mood for postpartum parents. 

“It can help regulate breathing, lower heart rate, and even strengthen parent–infant connection,” said Keya. “Knowing that, we designed Mamas and Melodies around practices that are easy to repeat at home, so moms can use them whenever they need a moment of calm or grounding. And the goal isn’t to replace clinical care but to bridge the space between visits with habits that are realistic and repeatable.”

As an aspiring physician and a woman of color, Sarah finds the research doubly meaningful. 

“There is limited research that focuses specifically on minority women. Despite receiving care at some of the best teaching hospitals in all of New Jersey, minority women are experiencing unique complications that are compounded by systemic factors that contribute to such a high rate of traumatic births,” said Sarah, a Cell Biology and Neurosciences Major and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Music minor. “As a woman of color myself and an aspiring healthcare professional, I cannot ignore these statistics. Instead, I want others to understand that our individual experiences contribute to a unique understanding of systems that affect every member of society.” 

An employee at Saint Peter’s, Sarah has also been connecting their findings to her observations of new moms’ support groups. With her music minor, Sarah has been able to infuse an interdisciplinary approach to the structure of the workshop. 

“Bringing those perspectives together has helped me shape our music therapy workshop so that it is not only grounded in evidence-based research but also responsive to the real needs of postpartum individuals,” she said. 

In the future, they hope that Mamas and Melodies can make postpartum support more visible and accessible. They would like to expand to offer workshops embedded in community centers in various languages with facilitators who reflect the community. 

 “If a parent can calm their body with a short humming pattern or settle their baby a little faster with recognized musical tools, that’s meaningful change right away,” said Keya. “The bigger goal is simple: a city where every new parent knows help exists, knows how to access it, and feels welcome using it.” 

Both students credit Douglass, along with the Institute for Women’s Leadership, as safe places to be curious, speak up, and turn passions and ambitions into real-world, practical projects, such as Mamas and Melodies.  

“The opportunity to independently research and develop a project that is so meaningful to Keya and me is something I have never felt so much gratitude for,” Sarah said. “Coming to Rutgers and being a part of Douglass as a rural out-of-state student was the best decision I could have made.” 

“I joined Douglass as a first-year student, and it immediately helped me find connection and community within such a large university,” Keya said. “Having a smaller, supportive space where people truly want you to grow made all the difference in how I navigated college. Douglass has shaped the vision of my future path as a physician more than I expected. The mentorship and leadership training here pushed me to think about healthcare not only as science, but also as advocacy.” 

Sarah and Keya’s unique blend of public health, creativity, and hard science skills has created a project that exemplifies the real-world impact of research. 

“At the forefront of our research is empathy and compassion,” said Sarah. “Critical mental health interventions like music therapy should not be inaccessible because of insurance or high costs. Accessible healthcare should be a right and not a privilege.”

“Being able to help the community in such a direct and meaningful way reminded us why we chose this path in the first place,” said Keya. “It’s one thing to study medicine in a classroom, but it’s another to see firsthand how access, education, and empathy can change someone’s day-to-day life. Through Mamas and Melodies, we’re learning that healthcare isn’t only about treatment, but it’s about listening, building trust, and meeting people where they are.”