The Effect of Feng Shui Delivery Room Design on Maternal and Infant Health

Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa (IUC)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Delivery; Injury; Birth; Prolonged; Birth Disorder; Delivery Problem; Delivery Fear

Treatments: Other: Designing the birthing unit according to the philosophy of Feng Shui

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05468658

IstanbulUC-1

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of the study is to compare the births that took place in the Feng Shui Birth unit and those that took place in the standard delivery unit in terms of mother-infant health outcomes.

The study will be carried out in a private clinic in Istanbul, between July and December 2022. In the study, which is planned as a controlled experimental study, 50 women who applied first and met the inclusion criteria of the study will be selected as the Control Group (B), and it is planned that these women will give birth using the normal routine delivery unit of the clinic. It is planned that the next 50 women will form the Experimental Group (A): and give birth in the birth environment designed according to the Feng Shui Philosophy.

Full description

This study is based on the hypothesis that the birth environment requires greater attention to ameliorate existing challenges in modern obstetric practice. The main focus is on the negative experiences that result from increased intervention during childbirth and the accompanying fear, anxiety, pain and stress. In order to reduce these emerging problems, it is planned to design the maternity unit based on the Feng Shui philosophy, inspired by the information obtained from the evidence-based health service design advocating bringing nature to the hospital.

Studies conducted abroad on what kind of birth environment women want and evidence-based guidelines. However, there is a need for such studies to be conducted in Turkey and for the creation of evidence-based guidelines by taking cultural characteristics into account. In line with this study, it is thought that planning and implementing new and positive birth environments with a multidisciplinary approach by architects, designers and health professionals will contribute positively to mother and baby health.

The dissemination of evidence-based good practices in obstetrics services to include all women giving birth is necessary in terms of the principle of quality service and equality. However, with this study, it is emphasized that the birth environment is not only limited to spatial arrangement, but is a matter of philosophy.

In this context, it is aimed to compare the births in the Feng Shui delivery unit with the ones that take place in the routine birth unit, with its design and decoration that will minimize the rate of anxiety, fear, pain, stress, emergency cesarean section, synthetic oxytocin and instrumental need, and increase the rates of maternal satisfaction and breastfeeding proficiency.

Enrollment: 100 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Pregnant women;

• No Turkish communication problem,
• be at least 18 years old,
• No history of risky pregnancy
• Not having a chronic (Cardiovascular system diseases, Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, etc.) and mental (Major depression, Psychosis, etc.) disease,
• Having nulliparous pregnant women who will give birth to a singleton baby in the head delivery position,
• 37 to 42 weeks of gestational weeks of gestation,
• Pregnant women who are faced with cord entanglement, meconium amniotic fluid problems but decided to continue their vaginal delivery
• To be able to meet the criteria for saliva sampling, Having stopped eating at least 1.5 hours ago, Stopped consuming beverages containing caffeine in the last 2 hours, Not doing any strenuous physical activity in the last 1 hour, Not consuming alcohol within 24 hours, Not brushing teeth in the last 2 hours and no bleeding in the gums

Exclusion criteria

• Pregnant women who applied to the delivery unit between 21:00 and 06:00.
• Having a Body Mass Index (BMI) below 18.5 kg/m2 and above 24.9 kg/m2 during the pregnancy period,
• Newborn baby weighing less than 2.5 kg or over 4.5 kg,

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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100 participants in 2 patient groups

Experimental Group (A): Feng Shui Birth Unit

Experimental group

Description:

1. The cabinets will be painted using salmon and pastel green. 2. It is planned to make designs specific to the philosophy of Feng Shui on the doors and walls of the birthing unit. 3. Live nature videos and sounds will be projected onto the wall. 4. Fabric curtains will be replaced with curtains designed according to the philosophy of Feng Shui. 5. Natural plants will be placed. 6. Lighting will be used. 7. Bed linen will be designed according to the Feng Shui. 8. Wooden bell will be used. 9. Turtle, elephant and Wu Lou objects will be placed. 10. The Bagua mirror will be placed. 11. Crystals will be placed. 12. Natural stones will be placed. 13. The fountain will be placed in the east compass direction of the unit. 14. Straw bamboo separator will be used.

Treatment:

Other: Designing the birthing unit according to the philosophy of Feng Shui

Control Group (B): Routine Birth Unit

No Intervention group

Description:

The delivery unit of the institution consists of a small corridor, a labor room, a delivery room and a baby room. In the small corridor, there is a desk, document cabinets, vaccine cabinet and medicine cabinet for the midwife to work. The institution's routine delivery unit is equipped with standard medical devices and supplies. However, there are medical devices that are not used in the unit. White bed linens designed with the standard hospital logo are used in the unit. However, the curtains are plain cream, the walls are light blue, and the ceilings are white.