Georgia Ladbury

04/12/2025

Happy to have been featured in an article in SW Londoner regarding music provision in the region - it's quite long so excerpt below:

🧡

Elsewhere across South West London, Georgia Ladbury is also using music to connect a different audience aimed at supporting women’s wellbeing through singing.

Singing Mamas is a national initiative which runs localised singing groups for pregnant women and new mothers.Georgia, who attended a group herself whilst pregnant, now leads the community group in Carnegie Library Hub which borders Herne Hill and Loughborough Junction.

"It is all about the power that singing can have to make you feel better. It is different from a choir where a lot of the time the focus is on performing and whilst it is a great space, it can be off-putting for a lot of people because they feel they're not good enough to sing so they stop themselves from coming.

If you can breathe then you can sing and every voice is welcome in this group. We sing for connection, not for perfection."

Mothers can bring their children along to play and allies of mums are also welcome, such as grandmas and friends. No audition is required and all the music is taught by ear, based on a call and response style of singing.

Georgia said that the songs they sing can vary greatly from pop tunes, to lyrics which reflect and articulate the challenges of motherhood in a safe way.

When the group then come together afterwards for tea and cake, Georgia finds that thanks to the singing, often the guarded barriers of social apprehension seem to lower and people engage in deeper conversations that go beyond surface level chitchat.

She said: "Thanks to Singing Mamas I am calmer and more resilient and it has remained the highlight of my week. It has given me a great network of women to lean on in such a supportive atmosphere and recognising what we have to juggle is hard."

Meet the organisations keeping music alive

02/12/2025

In my happy place today giving a lecture on "Public Health and Working With Evidence" to student midwives...fave bits of feedback so far are not so much the 4.85/5 star satisfaction rating (although - YAY!!!! 🎉🎉🎉) but the comments on what aspect they appreciated the most:

#1 "Understanding that guidelines aren't necessarily based on evidence"

Wooohooooooooo so excited to have instilled that message right on early in these first year students' midwifery journey 🙌🙌🙌

#2 "Your dungarees, we are all wondering where you got them from?"

Was absolutely NOT expecting clothing compliments from a group of fashion forward 20-something year old young women, but I am SOOOOO here for it 💪

Now on the train whizzing back up to the big smoke to visit a client and her three day old baby, I mean what is not to love about life on a day like today 🎉

(Note: dungarees are from LindyBop, which sadly no longer exist - Collectif and Popsy now my go-to replacement brands!)

15/10/2025

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93127z99yxo.amp

I run weekly Singing Mamas groups in Herne Hill - open to women of all ages and life stages and no need to be a "good" singer. More details in the comments!

New research suggests singing can be clinically effective at treating the symptoms and cost effective for the NHS.

12/08/2024

And the most uplifting (albeit slightly belated) story for World Breastfeeding Week goes to...

Thirty mothers take turns with their babies in front of Mujur, 19, to try to encourage her to bond with newborn

16/06/2024

Given how much I bang on about it, hopefully you're all now convinced of the joy that singing can bring to a person's life. Sadly there's not much by way of music in the education curriculum these days, and London Youth Choir is an absolutely fantastic charity that seeks to give every child in London the opportunity to sing in a choir, regardless of background.

Until the 18th June if you donate to LYC, the donation will be match funded (ie doubled) - so if you do have any cash spare in these testing times it would be ace if you could put a few pounds their way 🧡 More info below. Thanks!

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Join London Youth Choirs in supporting the next generation of young singers!

For two weeks only, donations to London Youth Choirs will be doubled via the Champions for Children Campaign.

The charity is aiming to raise £50,000 to improve access to transformational music opportunities, providing free places in LYC for those facing barriers to music making. This is more and more important with the current state of music education combined with the cost of living.

"We have what is starting to be considered a crisis in music education… Sadly there are now 20,000 fewer state school bands, orchestras, ensembles and choirs than there were seven years ago.” Parliamentary debate, March 2024

Donate before 18 June on The Big Give website and your donation will be doubled! Every contribution, whatever the size, will make a difference.

LONDON YOUTH CHOIRS | Charity no. 1151714

LYC is a place where you can learn, thrive and excel; a place of acceptance and encouragement where your voice means everything. We work with 2000 young people each year, creating community through choir. Funds raised will support the expansion of our work, making sure singing is accessible for all....

04/03/2024

Buy one get one free this week at Singing Mamas

♀️It's a special week for women with International Women's Day on Friday and Mother's Day hot on its heels on Sunday!

👭Here at Singing Mamas - South London we're celebrating with a Buy-One-Get-One-Free deal: for this week only, if you book yourself a taster session, your next session will be completely free of charge!

🎶So if you've ever wondered about trying out the group, now is the perfect time to go ahead and treat yourself ☺️

🧡You're worth it!

👀For more info or to book see www.georgialadbury.com/joinsingingmamas or find us on Happity

19/12/2023

"Joy is supposed to slither through the cracks of your imperfect life"
- Harry Baker

It's a busy time of year and it's fair to say that us mums often put a fair bit of pressure on ourselves to make the "perfect" Christmas for our kids and families...the gifts, the elves, the grottos, the anticipation, the tree, the house decorations, the general sense that things need to resemble something out of a John Lewis advert for us to be doing Christmas "right". And amongst all that planning and implementing and stress, we can lose the joy that ironically this season is meant to represent.

So here is a poem to help remember to slow down and notice all that joy that already exists around you. It is there without you even having to lift a finger - so maybe take a pause and pour yourself another cup of tea 🧡

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzvgBV0obDP/?igshid=NDAzNTAxZTI3OQ==

05/12/2023

Devastating to see these figures and while we all understand the strain the NHS is under, ultimately it's women and babies who pay the heavy price.

Having a doula and singing are two very different things which can nonetheless both be a real help to provide critical emotional support for mothers at that time when they really need it...contact me if you're wanting to explore doula options and for the latter, come join us at a Singing Mamas - South London group on a Tuesday or Thursday. Groups are free for pregnant women from 36+ weeks so that you can start building your postnatal community before baby arrives 💕

Exclusive: NHS figures obtained by Labour reveal 11,507 women sought care but did not get any last year

01/12/2023

Conspicuously missing from this list as should be at the very top:

* The tea after you've just given birth ❤️ *

29/11/2023

When two worlds collide...I had a fantastic time
bringing a little singing-for-wellbeing magic to my European epidemiology colleagues at the conference last week. Usually I do this for tired and overwhelmed mamas at my weekly Singing Mamas - South London groups, but fair to say that the global epidemiology workforce is also tired and overwhelmed as we stagger out of the past few years of the pandemic and begin to deal with its aftermath.

The songs worked their magic as they always do. Some tears, much laughter, and some musical tools to take home and use on the rough days.

"One day at a time..." 🎶🧡

06/11/2023

I don't know about you but I don't get the chance to flick through Stylist magazine on my commute these days so I just wanted to share this fab article about the magical benefits of group singing for mental health and wellbeing.

The interview is with Kate Valentine who founded the Singing Mamas Org movement - I run two Singing Mamas groups locally - details in comments - but if those groups don't suit your personal circumstances/preferences I would highly recommend finding another one that does (more suggestions in comments!)! There really is no better balm for the soul 🧡

“The emphasis is on how it feels for the people taking part, not how it sounds to people listening.”

19/10/2023

Just another standard Thursday morning of solo school and childminder run on a day when it's chucking down with rain and I've got a particular train to catch to get to Singing Mamas - South London on time.

Of course the kids slept in and we couldn't find a cardigan and then once we'd finally loaded onto the cargo bike we only got a few metres before the bike nearly tipped as a bungee cord I hadn't noticed had got caught in the wheels. Cue having to ask a kindly man at the bus stop to steady the bike with the three kids on it while I knelt down and pulled it all out in the rain.

Nonetheless, everyone got to school on time; I got back covered in filth and had four minutes to clean up and change into Serious Office Wear as am headed to my desk job after the session.

But I am now on the train to Singing Mamas, definitely flustered, definitely sweaty, but looking forward to 90 minutes of song and connection to calm my nerves and set me up for the rest of the day.

Never underestimate how much your Singing Mamas Org leaders need this time as much as you!!

See you there 🧡

Tuesdays 10-1130 Vestry room adjoining Holy Redeemer Streatham Vale

Thursdays 10-1130 Coffee Lounge Herne Hill Baptist Church