How Sound-Based Nervous System Support Can Help Women Through the Perinatal Journey

The perinatal journey — from preconception through postpartum — is often described as beautiful and transformative. But it’s also deeply complex.

For many women, these chapters of life come with anxiety, stress, trauma triggers, emotional overwhelm, or physical symptoms that don’t respond to traditional treatments. Whether you're navigating fertility struggles, pregnancy complications, birth trauma, postpartum depletion, or simply the rollercoaster of hormonal shifts, your nervous system plays a central role in how you experience it all.

That’s where tools like the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) and Rest and Restore Protocol (RRP) can make a profound difference. These non-invasive, sound-based therapies work directly with the nervous system to create a sense of safety, regulation, and connection — which are essential for physical healing and emotional resilience.

What Are SSP and RRP?

Both SSP and RRP are music-based listening protocols designed to help regulate the autonomic nervous system — the part of your body responsible for managing stress, rest, digestion, and connection.

🧠 Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)

Developed by Dr. Stephen Porges and grounded in Polyvagal Theory, SSP uses specially filtered music to stimulate the vagus nerve. This supports your body in shifting from fight/flight/freeze into a state of safety and connection.

SSP is especially supportive for:

• Emotional reactivity and overwhelm

• Sensory sensitivities

• Birth trauma or medical trauma

• Perinatal anxiety or postpartum depression

🎵 Rest and Restore Protocol (RRP)

Co-created by Dr. Porges and composer Anthony Gorry, RRP uses rhythmic entrainment — carefully designed tempos and sounds that help the body find a steady internal rhythm. This supports deep rest, interoception (inner awareness), and recovery from chronic stress.

RRP may be a better fit if you're:

• Experiencing burnout or fatigue (mental, emotional, or physical)

• Feeling “stuck in freeze” or shut down

• Struggling to sleep or settle after childbirth

• Trying to reattune to your body post-trauma or loss

Both protocols are gentle, trauma-informed, and designed to support regulation from the inside out. As a certified provider in both, I help women decide which approach is best for their current season — and often layer them over time for more complete support.

5 Ways SSP and RRP Support the Perinatal Nervous System

1. Creating a Foundation of Safety

During the perinatal journey, your body becomes highly attuned to cues of danger and safety — whether due to hormonal shifts, medical experiences, or past trauma.

SSP and RRP work differently, but both help create a neurophysiological sense of safety, allowing the body to shift out of chronic stress and into rest and connection. This is essential not just for mental health, but for digestion, immune function, hormonal balance, and bonding.

Bonus Insight: Chronic stress can disrupt the body's hormone regulation systems. The HPA axis (which manages stress hormones like cortisol) and the HPG axis (which regulates reproductive hormones) are closely linked. When stress is high, reproductive function often slows down.SSP and RRP help calm the HPA axis, giving the HPG axis a better chance to support fertility, cycle regularity, and hormonal balance.

2. Supporting Emotional Regulation

It’s common to feel emotionally “flooded” during this time — especially when juggling fertility expectations, unpredictable pregnancy symptoms, or postpartum demands.

• SSP is highly effective at helping women reduce emotional reactivity and stay grounded in their relationships.

• RRP, with its rhythmic design, helps reset internal patterns that can fuel anxiety or emotional numbness — especially when talk therapy isn’t enough.

In both cases, clients report more ease, fewer outbursts, and a growing ability to navigate big transitions with grace.

3. Releasing Birth or Medical Trauma

If you’ve had a difficult birth, a NICU stay, or even invasive fertility treatments, your body may still be holding onto that experience — even if you’ve “moved on” mentally.

SSP and RRP don’t require you to talk about the trauma. Instead, they help the nervous system gently release old patterns that may still be operating under the surface. Many women report sleeping better, crying for the first time in months, or finally feeling “back in their body” after starting these protocols.

“I didn’t realize how much I’d been bracing until I finally felt myself relax. RRP helped me soften in ways I didn’t know I needed.”— Client, postpartum 6 months

4. Improving Sleep and Recovery

Sleep is essential to postpartum healing and hormone stabilization, but many new moms (and moms-to-be) find themselves unable to fully rest — even when the baby’s asleep.

• SSP helps reduce nighttime hypervigilance, calming the system enough to let sleep come more easily.

• RRP is often used specifically to support deep parasympathetic recovery, allowing the body to drop into restorative rest.

Clients often describe sleeping more soundly, waking up more refreshed, and noticing less anxiety during transitions (like nap time, nursing, or returning to work).

5. Strengthening Connection to Self and Others

The perinatal period can be incredibly isolating — and when your nervous system is dysregulated, it can feel hard to connect even when you're surrounded by support.

Both protocols support ventral vagal activation, which is the biological foundation for safety, eye contact, co-regulation, and intimacy. Over time, women report feeling more present with their baby, more emotionally available to their partner, and more confident in their identity as a mother.

Choosing the Right Modality: SSP, RRP, or Both?

Each woman’s journey is different — and your nervous system deserves individualized care.

As a trauma-informed somatic coach, I help women discern which protocol (or combination) is most supportive based on their current needs:

Symptom	Recommended Protocol
Anxiety, panic, sensory overload	SSP
Freeze, numbness, burnout	RRP
Birth trauma, medical trauma	SSP or RRP, depending on pacing
Poor sleep, low energy	RRP
Difficulty bonding or co-regulating	SSP or RRP, depending on pattern
Cycle irregularity or fertility challenges	SSP or RRP, depending on symptom pattern
Already using therapy but feeling “stuck”	Either, layered support

Some clients begin with one protocol and transition to the other. Others layer them in a sequence that builds their capacity over time.

Ready to Support Your Nervous System on the Perinatal Journey?

If you’re navigating fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, or early motherhood — and feel like your system is stuck in survival mode — SSP and RRP may be the missing link.

At Retune Health, I offer gentle, guided support through both protocols — customized to your pace, your history, and your goals.

👉 Book a free consultation to explore how we can support your healing and nervous system regulation during this transformative time.