Dr Tríona McCaffrey is Associate Professor in music therapy at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick. Her practice and research interests are in mental health with a strong track record of collaborative working with health service users and providers. Tríona has completed several music and perinatal wellbeing projects that are most often interdisciplinary and include public and patient involvement. She is founder of the ‘Alliance for Recovery Research in Mental Health’, an international group of music therapy services users, providers and researchers from Australia, Ireland, Norway and the U.K who collaborate on mental health research.
Dr Sylvia Murphy Tighe is a general nurse, midwife, public health nurse and lecturer. She was awarded a Research Training Fellowship by the Health Research Board (2013-2016) to explore the nature and impact of concealed pregnancy. She has brought an Art Exhibition from Australia to Ireland entitled the Spaces Between Us exploring concealed pregnancy and tragic outcomes. She has engaged with print and broadcast media extensively in relation to concealed pregnancy and provided expert knowledge in relation to this phenomenon to various groups. She has served as Course Director BSc Midwifery programme in the Dept Nursing & Midwifery from 2017-2020. She is a member of the Women and Child Health Research Cluster in the Dept of Nursing and Midwifery and the Health Research Institute at the University of Limerick. Dr Murphy Tighe is particularly interested in arts-based research, psychosocial vulnerability, integrated care and public health interventions to promote health and wellbeing.
Dr Pui Sze Cheung is an IACAT and HCPC registered music therapist and health researcher with a strong record in arts and health research. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, an MA in Music Therapy, and a PhD focused on music therapy and perinatal mental health. Trained in Prenatal Music Bonding, Creative Arts Birthing, and Music Therapy Assisted Childbirth (MTABC), Pui Sze pioneered the first music-based intervention for perinatal mental health in Ireland, supporting families during the prenatal, childbirth, and postnatal periods. Currently, she is offering music therapy services and involved in various health research projects in both the UK and Ireland.
Publications
Benyamini, Y., Delicate, A., Ayers, S., Dikmen-Yildiz, P., Limmer, CM (2024) Key dimensions of women’s and their partners’ experiences of childbirth: A systematic review of reviews of qualitative studies. PLOS One, March DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299151
Cheung, P.S., McCaffrey, T. & Murphy-Tighe (2023). Music as a health resource in pregnancy: A cross-sectional survey study of women and partners in Ireland. Midwifery, 103811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2023.103811
Cheung, P. S., McCaffrey, T., Tighe, S. M., & Mohamad, M. M. (2024). Healthcare practitioners’ experiences and perspectives of music in perinatal care in Ireland: An exploratory survey. Midwifery, 132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2024.103987
Cheung, P. S., & McCaffrey, T. (2022). Investigating the suitability of customised playlist for childbirth in Ireland and Hong Kong. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy. Available from: https://approaches.gr/cheung-a20220331/
Garry, F., MacFarlane, A., Murphy Tighe, S., Punch, P., Phelan H (2023) A scoping review of the use of music as an arts-based method in migrant health research. HRB Open Access 6:74 DOI: 10.12688/hrbopenres.13817.1
McCaffrey, T., Cheung, P.S., Murphy Tighe, S. (2024). Music listening to support the childbirth experience. In R. Perkins (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Music and Parental Wellbeing, (pp.168-189). Oxford University Press.
McCaffrey, T., Cheung, P.S., Barry, M., Punch, P.., & Dore, L. (2020). The role and outcomes of music listening for women in childbirth: An integrative review. Midwifery, 83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2020.102627
McCaffrey, T., Ryan, H. (2021, Feb 22). Supporting the well-being of parents and babies in Limerick. A research partnership through the arts [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sgNtVgDPfU
Noonan, M., Brown , M., Gibbons, M., Tuohy, T., Johnson K., Murphy Tighe S., Grealish AM(2024) Evaluation of the effectiveness of a video-based educational intervention on perinatal mental health related stigma reduction strategies for healthcare professionals: A single group pre-test-post-test pilot study. Midwifery July, 136(6):DOI: 10.1016/j.midw.2024.104089
O’Reilly, G., Cheung, P.S. & McCaffrey, T. (2023). A pilot study of maternal songwriting to support bonding during pregnancy: “I could feel her rise and fall with my breath while singing.” Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health, 68, 205-209. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jmwh.13463
Spyridou, A., Karlsdottir,S. A., Nagle, U., Gökce, G.I., Kaźmierczak, M., Pawlicka, P., Radoš, N., Hadjigeorgiou, E., McCaffrey, T., & Duffy, R. (2021). Perinatal psychosocial interventions and preventive actions for traumatic birth and the development or treatment of PTSD and PTS symptoms. Prospero, CRD42021227179. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021227179
Zalisauskaite, R., Cheung, P. S., McCaffrey, T. M., & Philip, R. K. (2021). Reflections from a feasibility study on maternal live singing to preterm infants in the neonatal unit. Irish Medical Journal, 114(10), 505. https://www.imj.ie/wpcontent/uploads/2021/12/Reflections-from-a-Feasibility-Study-on-Maternal-Live-Singing-to-Preterm-Infants-in-the-Neonatal-Unit.pdf
Podcast
McCaffrey, T., Cheung., P.S., & Mahady, M. (2022). Music Therapy supporting women’s mental health in the perinatal period [Audio podcast]. UL Research Impact Podcast. Music therapy to support women’s perinatal wellbeing during pregnancy: Using music to nurture? (podomatic.com)