Future of mother and child facility at Maxima Medical Centre

Maxima Medical Centre is one of the first European centres, which provide people-focused childbirth and neonatal care

VELDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS: Maxima Medical Centre (Veldhoven, the Netherlands) in collaboration with Philips electronics has showcased a groundbreaking new mother-child facility which provides people-focused childbirth and neonatal care while integrating smartphone applications.

The centre integrates solutions for mother and their babies throughout pregnancy, labour, delivery postnatal, neonatal and paediatric care. It incorporates the latest clinical findings to support the baby’s growth and natural bonding process with parents, without compromising the safety and quality of care.

The new woman-mother-child centre is designed to deliver a continuum care: prenatal care, delivery, post-natal care, breastfeeding support and discharge within one comfortable hospital room. If mother experiences medical problems during the process, clinics specialist visit the mothers room rather that the mother being moved to a different department and being separated from the baby.

Research has shown that Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) environment is effective in improving infant medical outcome, decreasing length of stay and decreasing the hospitalisation cost that comes with the complex care neonates need.

This concept is not only new to Europe but to the rest of the world as well. If the NICU care is needed, premature babies are also kept with their mothers in private rooms during the treatment and recovery. Until now, mothers have been typically remained in an obstetric ward while their babies were sent to a traditional NICU.

Maxima Medical Centre will also be the first hospital in the world to test a new delivery experience concept developed by Philips including a design concept that supports women and her partner during labour with interactive lighting animations and a smartphone application.

The app’s breathing exercise trains the mother with an animation on her cell phone, and allows her to select any colour from a variety of colours for her private room.

Once the mother is in her room in the clinic, the room will change the colour according to what she had selected on her phone. Whenever a contraction happens the breathing exercise starts being displayed on the wall in front of the mothers bed.

The walls also displays a tree that grows a flower bud each time the mother has a contraction and after the delivery, all the flowers bloom and an animation of flower rain is displayed on all walls.

At Maxima, the father is allowed to visit 24 hours and if the parents agree any family member or friends are allowed to visit whenever they like. The doctors and professionals on the other hand require the parents’ permission to enter the private room. Everything that needs to be monitored is done from outside of the room. Hence, allowing the caretaker to not disturb the mother and child, and do whatever needs to be done without entering the private room.

Maxima has changed the workflow of the centre, shaping it around the needs and biorhythms for the mother and child while also optimising the interaction between nurse and parents.

The goal is to support a healing environment, manage a baby’s stress and pain and to be a partner with families.

General Manager, mother and child care, Philips healthcare David Russel explains about the new initiative.

“We have focused on mother and baby for more than 40 years, beginning with the breakthrough in fetal monitoring in 1968, neonatal physiological measurement algorithms, and NICU specialised monitoring in the early 1970s, to thoughtfully expanding our business to include support for mothers and babies form pregnancy to the transition home,” he said. “Phillips collaboration with Maxima Medical Centre demonstrates our commitment to family centred care, which extends beyond providing only equipment. Our holistic approach encompasses education to support a clinical transformation.”

Professor Dr Guid Oei, gynaecologist at Maxima Medical Centre (Founder of Woman-Mother-Child Centre adds, “We are extremely proud that through collaboration and innovation we can demonstrate today that it is possible to push the boundaries of what mother and child care should look like. We are now able to combine quality care with the vital warmth and intimacy that mother and child need before, during and after birth, even if new life starts with severe complications.”