CREATING A POSITIVE BIRTH SPACE
5 Talks
The space around us as professionals and service users has a psycho-physical impact on us, and impacts behaviours. However, hospital settings do not always consider the human impact of space. This boxset explores the architecture of birth spaces, exploring innovations in design, from individual interventions to policy.
Growing a Family with Dignity
2019 | 39 mins | Creating a positive birth space
In his challenging talk, Dr Neel Shah, Obstetrician and Researcher from Harvard Medical School, highlights the poor maternal mortality in the US and in the UK. He shows through statistics the increase of caesarean sections (CS) without benefit. He talks about the pressure of working on complicated birth units and how busyness increases CS. He explains the more women in labour at the same time the more chance there is of an intervention. He addresses failure of communication and teamwork. Neel focusses on the impact of the design of buildings and introduces a delivery planning board being trialled.
Dr Neel Shah, Obstetrician & Researcher, Harvard Medical School
Designing Birth Spaces Grounded in Women’s Experiences of Giving Birth: An Architect’s Perspective
2019 | 21 mins | Creating a positive birth space
Sarah Joyce, researcher at the University of Leeds, discusses her qualitative study exploring experiences of the places of labour and birth and how this informs design. Experience of the spaces we encounter is multi-sensual and social, impacting on our behaviours. Despite this knowledge, there is limited policy available to support space design for childbirth. Sarah discusses the impact of the absence and inclusion of people from policy, concluding with a call to ground design in social experience and co-production: without people, what is the point of architecture.
Sarah Joyce, Researcher, University of Leeds
Architecture and Place: Home is where it’s safe – designing environments for childbirth
2019 | 17 mins | Creating a positive birth space
In this thought-provoking discussion of her research, Dr Nicoletta Setola, Assistant Professor of Architectural Technology, Department of Architecture at the University of Florence, rethinks birth spaces. Founded within an architectural approach and its interface with the psychophysical, the case study of the Margherrita Birth Centre in Florence provides a central thread to this exploration of space. Dr Setola considers how birth spaces can reflect the birth continuum, physiology and person-centred care, whilst maintaining practical necessities. The talk concludes with a call to action to consider our birth spaces and provides practical ideas to take steps towards a different norm of birth space architecture.
Dr Nicoletta Setola, Assistant Professor of Architectural Technology, Department of Architecture, University of Florence
The impact of the best environment for childbirth
2020 | 28 mins | Creating a positive birth space
The presentation of space is an intervention during pregnancy and birth; often a dual system of environments is evident across birthing settings. Architect, Angela Müller, explores how co-produced environments can improve care experiences both as a service user and healthcare professional. Visual noise creates psychological and physical reactions eliciting certain behaviours, promoting, or preventing the effective use of birth spaces. Angela discusses, through the analysis of homebirth, how perinatal services can translate needs into hospital settings, bringing evidence-based care and design together to promote improved experiences and outcomes.
Angela Müller, Consultant & Architect, Parra-Müller
The Midwifery Unit Network: Spreading the knowledge about optimal birth
2019 | 24 mins | Creating a positive birth space
Lucia Rocca-Ihenacho, CEO, Midwifery Unit Network, Lecturer and researcher, City University, London, explains the creation of a community of practice to improve birth experiences in birth units across Europe. She describes the formation and development of the network and the importance of birth centres for women’s rights, wellbeing and public health. Lucia discusses the standards for midwifery birth units and the need for appropriate care.
Lucia Rocca-Ihenacho, CEO, Midwifery Unit Network; Lecturer and researcher, City University, London
