Birthing rooms in Canada

Birthing rooms are part of a trend to family-centred maternity care in hospitals. The room is decorated in a homelike fashion, and is a place where a family can labor, deliver and spend uninterrupted time together following birth. It also offers more privacy than traditional labor and delivery areas. Because birthing room programs are relatively new, the Canadian Institute of Child Health conducted a survey to determine how they began and how they are operated in Canadian hospitals. Forty-six hospitals were surveyed, of which 23 indicated they had a birthing room program. This article discusses the planning and cost of implementing the programs, physical aspects of the rooms, patients' eligibility to use them, indications for transferring patients to the delivery room, staffing, family participation, problems and benefits. While the programs increased patient satisfaction, most organized birthing rooms are used by a small segment of the population and are directed only at those families considered to be at low risk.