As reduced reimbursements and growing ranks of uninsured patients threaten the financial viability of healthcare institutions across the country, hospitals are giving the five-star treatment to maternity wards to attract expectant mothers.
One way St. Mary's Hospital in Madison, Wisc., made it's Family Birth Center seem more like a spa and less like a maternity ward was by providing family care suites for new parents, which come equipped with double-beds, stone-tiled bathrooms, massage showerheads, back-massagers, and large windows for natural light, reports ABC News.
St. Mary's also offers luxury brand-name shampoos and soaps to enhance the relaxing, spa-like atmosphere.
In Illinois, the private suites at Silver Cross Hospital's birthing center include a bathroom with a shower and immersion tub to ease labor pains, a blanket warmer, a refrigerator, wireless Internet access, a 30-inch flat screen TV, and a sofa-sleeper for family members, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
Hospitals are ramping up the artwork to spa-like levels to make the maternity wards more "warm, inviting, and comfortable," notes ABC. The food service also is getting the five-star treatment, with St. Mary's now offering an extra early breakfast for new mothers and dinner for new fathers or partners.
In addition to improving outcomes, hospitals can use the special features as a marketing tool to attract patients, Debra Levin, president of the Center for Health Design, told ABC News.
For example, to highlight its new and improved birthing center, Silver Cross is giving all mothers-to-be who pre-register delivery a chance to win a $1,000 savings bond for their baby, notes the Sun-Times.
Yet hospitals ought to be cautious when deciding whether to spend big bucks on spa-like amenities. According to a St. Mary's focus group in July, most mothers are less interested in luxury features and products and more concerned with having time to rest and time to spend with the baby, notes ABC News.
To learn more:
- read the ABC News article
- read the Chicago Sun-Times article
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