On October 11, the Heron Perth Healthcare Alliance: Stratford Maternal Child floor team ‘cut the cord’ to unveil the new Wavecare Sensory Delivery Room; a room to ease the stress and anxiety of birthing women and their partners.
Dr. Cheryl Hillier, Medical Program Director for the maternal child unit, says the new room was developed to provide a positive experience for both the birthing couple and the health care provider without compromising patient safety, “It provides a safe, non-threatening environment that bridges cognitive, perceptual, behavioural and physical impairments, as well as other limiting conditions that provide a sense of empowerment to the patient.”
“We are so excited to share with our community the benefits of this type of delivery room,” says Audra Boersen, Manager of the Maternal Child Unit and Scheduling Unit. “This project has truly been a labour of love, and we are so proud to have the first delivery room of this kind in Canada.”
The Wavecare Sensory Delivery Room provides a stress-reducing ambience in the delivery ward and supports the labour process with customized programs for childbirth.
“In total, there are nine different themes, and patients and their partners are encouraged to change themes as they desire,” says Dr. Cheryl Hillyer. “For example, the breathing program is beneficial for pain relief and focus and can also be used for relaxation between contractions.”
This unique room offers the same equipment and features as a typical delivery room but also includes a digital screen that plays nature scenes, dynamic lights in calming colours and specially designed sound programs such as wave ripples, all of which help to create a more relaxed environment that seems less clinical.
Leah Carroll and her newborn, Jameson, born on September 4, one of the first new moms to experience using the room, “You will feel a sense of calm, and that's very much how my husband and I felt when we walked in, we were being induced so labour hadn't started yet,” she continued, “we felt very much relaxed in there the different themes we used. We use the skin-to-skin theme, and the breastfeeding theme.”
Carroll has experience working as a labour and delivery nurse and notes that being in a labour and delivery room can become quite intense and stressful during the labour process, but she believes the new room will help ease the tension and anxiety of families, “Everything went really well, and I do think that the sensory room had a positive impact on my experience.
With the first Wavecare Sensory Delivery Room now fully operational and based on positive feedback, the hope is to add more of these rooms in the future.
Amanda Modaragamage, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Stratford Times
