Sustainable birth environments

Viborg maternity ward – sustainable birth environments

Presentation by Head Midwife Katrine Corfitz Kildedal and colleagues Sandra T. Dahl and Kirsten Nordby.

The Live webinar was on Jan 11, 2021.

View the full Danish webinar recording on my.gynzone.com

The maternity ward in Viborg Hospital has worked for 2 years to create sustainable, homely, and calming birth environments.

Since late 2018, the midwives Kirsten Nordby and Sandra Dahl, and Head Midwife Katrine Kildedal have immersed themselves in birth environment and sustainability. Much of the ward’s furniture needed replacing, and the team set out to balance the requirements of safety, homeliness, and sustainability.

In a maternity ward, where intense labour pains are a great part of daily life, it made sense to examine how the surrounding environment influences the experience of pain and mastery of pain. Research has shown that both visual and audio motifs from nature are beneficial and that patients often prefer images that are calm and easy on the eyes and mind. The recognizability in nature images can have a soothing effect and might even diminish the experience of pain while enhancing the experience of mastery. This is particularly important during birth, as the physiological birth needs the hormone oxytocin to flow unimpeded. In stressing situations, adrenaline will rise and weaken the natural progress of birth.

All birthing suites and examination rooms were fitted with large photo wallpapers depicting calm landscapes, and Bluetooth sound systems so it is possible to combine the visual surroundings with sounds from nature, or music to preference.

Link to article about the birth environments in Viborg (Danish language): https://www.hospitalsenhedmidt.dk/presse-og-nyheder/nyheder/2019/fodeafsnittet-i-viborg-indvier-fodestuer-med-fokus-pa-hjemlige-omgivelser-og-baredygtighed/ 

This webinar recording is highly relevant for Danish-speaking doctors, midwives, nurses, students, and any public health professional working with the optimization of sustainability measures in a clinical setting. The video is not relevant for non-Danish speakers.

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