Improving Surroundings and Services for New Moms in Labor and Delivery
Women who are delivering babies at Hartford Hospital and their families can now enjoy newly renovated rooms with beautiful decor, comfortable furniture, and the availability of a new pain control method.
The 16 newly-renovated labor and delivery rooms have new flooring and wall coverings; new furniture including a visitor sleeper sofa; and cherry laminate woodwork.
The 38 renovated postpartum rooms also include special sink tops for bathing babies, heat lamps, LED lighting and new interactive TV systems. The renovated rooms were all designed to accommodate new electronic health record computers and fetal-monitoring systems.
When settled in the soothing new rooms, laboring women can choose to receive nitrous oxide, otherwise known as “laughing gas,” to relieve pain and help them relax. Hartford Hospital is one of just a few hospitals in Connecticut to offer this new pain control method.
The gas is odorless, tasteless and provides a mild analgesic effect for labor pain. It’s used throughout the world for this purpose and has proved very effective for many women. During labor, the patient inhales the nitrous oxide through a mask that she holds over her nose and mouth. The gas only flows when she inhales from the mask, so she has control of the dose. Nitrous oxide is commonly used in dental offices, but is used in a different concentration for women in labor. The Hartford Hospital Auxiliary provided funding for four nitrous oxide pumps, which became available to patients June 20, 2016.