HUMANIZED EFFECTS OF LABOR ROOMS ON EXPECTANT MOTHERS.
Contributors: University of Minnesota.
Published: 1984
Number of pages: 121
Subjects: Home Economics.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The major purpose of this study was to determine the physiological and psychological effects of a humanized labor room environment on the labor process. Labor rooms were in the Madison County Hospital located in Rexburg, Idaho. The control group, consisting of 92 mothers, utilized three labor rooms prior to redecoration. Decor of these institutional rooms included white walls, privacy curtains and bedding, with natural oak built-in closet and bedside table. The experimental group, consisting of 105 mothers, used these same rooms, redecorated to create a more humanized appearance in 1982. Redecoration involved the addition of wallpaper, colored and ruffled privacy curtains, a picture grouping, and a silk floral arrangement, which were intended to make the room appear warmer and more homelike. The three experimental labor rooms used in this study were the same size and shape with identical furniture and arrangement.

Within 24 hours of the delivery, nurses administered a questionnaire that asked for impressions of the subject's experience in the labor room and past experiences in labor rooms, if applicable. The questionnaire also contained semantic scales to rate the present and previous environment of the labor rooms. Psychological influence was measured by comparing impressions of labor rooms on a semantic scale and by subjective responses to the questionnaire. Physiological effects were determined by measuring speed of delivery. Hospital records were the source of these data.

To test the hypothesized relationships among the variables, t-tests and analysis of variance and covariance were used.

Major Findings. (1) There was no physiological difference in labor time between a humanized and institutionalized labor room. (2) The women in the study rated the humanized labor room psychologically more desirable.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-12, Section: B, page: 3762.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, 1984.

School code: 0130.