Hospital maternity care : family-centered.

This film explains how in Evansville, Indiana, a maternity care programme has been established with the co-operation of the care givers and parents. Fathers are encouraged to be involved in the process. In an example, a father is seen not attending the birth but being welcomed afterwards when his wife has had the baby. The mothers are in small wards with their babies separated and in small adjacent nurseries; when the babies cry, they are brought to the mothers. When the father visits (a sign indicates the visiting hours) he is subject to infection control and has to wash his hands and wear a surgical gown. During a break, hospital staff relax with the mothers who are wearing dressing gowns, drinking tea and smoking around a table. There is footage of premature babies. At antenatal classes, women are educated with the aid of a model and the mothers sit on the floor, exercise and breathe. A woman is in labour on her side, her husband massages the small of her back whilst a midwife sponges her face. The doctor talks about how he felt originally when fathers were allowed into the labour ward versus his opinion now; it improves the outcome for the mothers-to-be. A woman gives birth in the ward; everyone including her husband is wearing surgical gowns.