Going into the hospital to give birth can be a quick process for some families. For others, however, it can be a process that goes on for hours and sometimes even days. If you’re in a dingy hospital room throughout a long labour, it will make your birth seem even more laborious than it is. So how do you make your hospital room feel cozy during labour?
In this article, we will look at some of the ways that you can make your hospital room feel like home. How can you make sure your room brings you a feeling of calm?
How do I stay calm in my delivery room?
This will largely depend on your personality. Knowing what brings you peace is key to knowing how you can stay calm in the delivery room.
The ways that people can remain calm in high pressure or situations apply for keeping calm in the delivery room. They are generally focused on the five senses. Some of these are:
- Meditating
In many womens’ experiences, childbirth is often a mind over matter situation when it comes to dealing with pain. Meditation can be helpful with focusing on the ultimate goal of meeting your baby rather than any pain or discomfort you experience.
- Playing relaxing music
Music is useful in many situations. There’s a reason why a lot of us can link specific situations in our lives to various songs. Music speaks to our souls and can be a source of encouragement as well as peace. Create a calming playlist for your labour and that could help you to stay in a space of peacefulness for as long as possible while you’re in the delivery room.
See my tips for creating a music playlist for all stages of labour: Your birthing playlist for all 4 stages of labour.
- Use positive and encouraging birthing affirmations
Find your source of calm inside you rather than from your environment by using positive birth affirmations. Stick them around your hospital or delivery room to help you feel calmer at every turn. This is also a great way to make your hospital room feel cozy, which we will discuss further below.
Find my bundle of positive birthing affirmations HERE.
- Aromatherapy
Different scents can make you feel less tense and more peaceful. For example, lavender is one essential oil that people sprinkle on their pillows before bed to help them fall asleep faster and deeper. Lavender – along with cedarwood and bergamot – is also one that people turn to when they want to induce a feeling of calm.
- Massaging
Get a massage from your birthing partner or whoever is with you in the delivery room to help you calm your nerves. Massages are great for helping to alleviate stress and tension.
- Breathing exercises
Many people underestimate the power of breathing exercises or controlling your breathing for keeping calm. They are a great way to make sure you are consciously relaxing your body from the top of your head to the soles of your feet.
- Using water therapy
It’s true that some moms who have tried both medication and water birth would choose water birth over an epidural. Using water during your labour can induce a feeling of calm during your labour while also giving you the opportunity to feel every part of the birth.
Certainly some people feel like they can have more control over their environment if they are at home. However, that is of course not going to be an option for every mom.
You can try to make your hospital room feel cozy during labour though. If you have a room to yourself or at least are not sharing it with too many other people and can have a partition to separate yourself from other moms in the room, you can make it feel more comfortable for yourself.
Here are some things you can try.
Top 10 Ways to make hospital birth feel like home
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- Invite family and friends (or don’t!)
What is your home usually like? Do you always have close friends and family over? Or do you prefer it to be your sanctuary? Uninterrupted by anyone else except your immediate family. Make your hospital room feel more like home during labour by doing exactly what you do at home. Invite friends and family to drop by or tell them you’d rather be with only your birthing partner.
- Turn off the lights off or dim them if you need to
Mood lighting can make a whole lot of difference when you want to induce a feeling in a room. The same goes for your hospital room. If dim lights will make you feel calmer, do not be afraid to ask any hospital staff to help you by turning off a few lights in your hospital room when they are not needed by your healthcare practitioners. That is if they cannot be dimmed.
Hospital lights are known for being extremely bright which is helpful for those working there but may not be so beneficial for your mood.
- Move your bed around
You’ll notice in the setup of a traditional delivery room, the bed is in the middle of the room. It does not necessarily have to be so. Certainly if you need to be hooked up to machines attached to the wall around the bed, you can’t do much about that. However, if you want to make your hospital room feel cozy during labour, you might prefer to move the bed to one side of the room instead of leaving it in the middle.
Moving it to one side gives you the chance to use the space created for something else such as more space for friends and family who might be visiting.
- Use your own bedding
Hospital bedding is not generally designed for comfort or for people to have to spend long periods in them. The mattress and pillow may not be as comfortable as you would like. If you prefer, feel free to take your own bedding in. you can even take in your own pillow if that will make you feel more comfortable in your hospital bed.
- Bring in your framed family photos
Having the familiar faces of those you love around you is great for making you feel more comfortable in your hospital room. Take some framed photos into your delivery room with you and place them where you can easily see them to help you make your hospital room feel cozy during labour.
- Use essential oils to change the scents around you
As mentioned above, essentials can be a great way to feel relaxed. If you are struggling to relax in your hospital room, you can try sprinkling some essential oils around your bed or bring in an essential oils diffuser and place it near your bed. It helps to mask the medical smells of the hospital which might be contributing to your heightened anxiety.
- Bring in your own music
As recommended above, make a birthing playlist for yourself and take that into your delivery room with you. Is there some music that you frequently listen to at home? An album you’ve been loving lately? Don’t be afraid to take a little speaker into the delivery room with you and use that to play the sounds of your home to make your hospital room feel cozy during labour.
This is the speaker we used in the delivery room with each of our babies. Connect it to your phone and you’re good to go!
- Keep the door shut
Closing your hospital door is a good way to shut out the sounds of the hospital while you’re in your room. Or at the very least, you can keep the sounds muffled. That goes a long way to making your hospital room feel more comfortable. In addition to all the other suggestions, you may be able to make your hospital room feel more comfortable this way.
- Bring in your favourite snacks
What do you usually snack on when you’re comfortably sitting in front of the television at home? If you have an appetite and are allowed to, take in some of your favourite snacks to help you feel more comfortable in your hospital room.
READ: The perfect snacks for your hospital bag
- Use your own clothing where possible
This would probably be my top tip for how to make your hospital room feel cozy during labour. You may not be able to control much but you can certainly control what you’re wearing. Take your most comfortable lounge or night wear in. make sure that they are well-suited to or appropriate for nursing once your baby arrives and be prepared to change out of them right before delivery or be happy for them to be a little soiled at some point. Either way, they will make you feel more comfortable.
Congratulations and all the best with your labor and delivery!
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