Nursing implementation of single-room maternity care

For five generations, infants were born at St. Mary's Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in a conventional setting. Mothers labored in one room, delivered in another, recovered in yet another, and spent the remainder of the hospital stay in a postpartum room. Five generations of nurses were taught and practiced in the compartmentalized manner that the physical structure of this traditional unit mandated. In March 1984, tradition gave way to a new era with the opening of an 18-bed, single-room maternity care system--The Birthplace. With the opening of this new unit, the changes in nursing care delivery were dramatic. New roles were developed for nursing staff. The transition to this contemporary practice was not without its labor pains.