Designed to deliver a better experience for new mothers

Published on Monday 13 July 2009 19:03

THE design of maternity hospitals has undergone a silent revolution, with current thinking taking into consideration such issues as wall colour, birthing pools and access to external spaces.

Maternity care itself has evolved to meet the changing needs of patients and healthcare professionals. Design has become an increasingly important element, helping minimise risks to patients as well as enhancing what is expected to be a joyful experience for new mums.

Previous generations of health administrators looked to locate maternity hospitals as stand-alone facilities, separating the birth process from mainstream adult acute services. This philosophy recognised the principle that pregnant mothers are generally not ill people. A good example of these facilities can be seen at the previous site of the Simpson Maternity Pavilion in Edinburgh, which, although close to the original Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, retained its own identity.

As designers, we have started to see a more "risk averse" approach from healthcare administrators, and demands that fewer opportunities exist for accidents to happen. The growing trend is to relocate maternity hospitals closer to hospitals that will provide acute adult services, or to make them part of a new acute hospital.

Design has, therefore, become fundamental to ensuring the risks to mums-to-be are minimised. The majority of mothers, families, friends and staff who will use a maternity hospital are there for a life-changing experience. Conversely, it is important we recognise there are patients for whom the visit to the hospital will not be happy, and it is vital we create appropriate space for a range of human emotions.

As architects, we recognise this specific hospital type is unique.

Maternity hospitals are busy places that operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This creates the need for a robust and flexible design, driven by the needs of patients and staff. A number of operational modes need to be accommodated, ranging from busy anti-natal clinics to the intimacy of mother and baby bonding.

In recognition of the fact that the majority of pregnant women are not unwell, where possible, we try to minimise the impact of mechanical and electrical services. For example, within birthing rooms and ward areas, modern day hospital ward areas have interiors more like hotels.

Hospital design has increasingly used technologies more frequently associated with hotels, such as toilet pods, pre-wired and plumbed panels, robust finishes and fittings. All this, we believe, creates a design that has a less clinical aesthetic, which in turn, should reduce the stress levels most commonly associated with being in hospital. The swing towards single-bed wards also helps reduce the institutional, clinical aesthetic of accommodation.

Birthing pools are another recent trend. However, some health boards maintain offering this facility carries too much risk, and in these situations, the pools tend to be used primarily for pain relief during labour.

The science of colour is an expanding area of healthcare research. Already, we are aware of the importance of the choice of colour to enhance moods. It is widely accepted that pink is a calming colour and recent research has discovered that orange environments enhance the lactation process and encourage breast-feeding.

At the Ayrshire Maternity Unit, we promoted the concept of two courtyards – one specifically for the parents and families of babies requiring specific post-partum care – where direct access from the ward could be encouraged.

The more contemplative of these spaces is not overlooked by any public areas, thereby offering the required level of privacy for its use.

There are no absolutes in the design of maternity hospitals – no design is right or wrong.

Good maternity design is an evolutionary process. It is the bringing together of experience, an understanding of the issues, an examination of current trends and the willingness to engage with the end-users. After all, good design is all about people.

&#149 David Ross, is design director at Keppie and led the team responsible for the recently opened Ayrshire Maternity Hospital at Crosshouse.