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Mother & Child Hospital Planning & Designing

Introduction
Mother & Child hospital can be defined as a single specialty hospital which provides maternal & pediatric services. Birthing, in
most cases, is a happy experience; it is a magical moment with an enormous reward when one sees one’s child for the first
time. The main focus is generally on the mother, followed by the father and family, who are usually present for this joyful
experience. Nothing can compare to it, and we are designing to facilitate this moment.

Considering the above facts, Hospaccx team participates in ‘Mother & Child Hospital Planning and Designing’. This is
macroficial study of Mother & Child Hospital planning and designing if you want to get into more detail you can
contact info@hhbc.in

Planning of Mother & Child Hospital

Maternity Unit
 A maternity unit is an area where babies are delivered and post natal care is given to both mother and baby.
 Strict access control for visitors and unauthorized people, with a security system at the entrance door or as per
hospital protocol is required.
  This maternity ward will be considered as a rooming facility and limited nursery bassinettes are allocated. The
delivery room is allocated in the maternity ward for practical reasons and to allow cost savings on staffing,
enabling the maternity ward staff to cover the delivery rooms as well.

Pediatrics Care Unit

 A dedicated milk kitchen should be provided nearer to pediatrics care unit for formula preparation. A room or
cupboard for the storage of commercially pre-packed baby foods, preparation of special formula baby feeds and
the storage of baby bottles, teats, equipment and disposable items should be provided.
 It is important to manage the milk kitchen flow from dirty to clean i.e. receiving dirty bottles, thorough the wash
area and stored in the dirty area, and preparation and clean bottles kept in the clean area. Sterilize in a
microwave or with Milton sterilizing fluid depending on the hospital policy for the clean area.
 Refrigeration facilities are required for special baby formula feeds and mothers’ milk feeds. For convenience
there is a electrical mixer, but a hand mixer can also be utilized. Separate feeding area may be provided nearer
to pediatrics care unit.

Fertilization Department
IVF Laboratory (In Vitro Fertilization)
 The IVF laboratory must have adequate functionalities to minimize any damaging effects upon reproductive cells,
and ensure good laboratory practice. The laboratory should be adjacent to the operating room where clinical
procedures are performed.
 Materials used in laboratory construction, painting, flooring and furniture should be appropriate for clean room
standards, minimizing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) release and embryo toxicity.
 Laboratory design should ensure optimal workflow over minimal distances while handling reproductive cells
during all treatment phases.
 Laboratory access should be restricted to authorized personnel.
 Rooms for changing clothes should be separate from the laboratory.
 Hand-washing facilities should be placed outside the laboratory.
 Separate office space for administrative work should be available outside the laboratory.
 A separate laboratory with a safety fume hood should be provided for analyses using fixatives and other toxic
reagents.
 The area for cleaning and sterilization of materials, if present, should be separate from the laboratory.
 Cryopreservation facilities should be rationally and safely located outside but close to the laboratory and, for
safety reasons, with visible access to the interior (e.g. via a window, camera).Adequate ventilation and low
oxygen alarms should be installed. Personal low oxygen alarms are recommended, as additional security
measure.
 Each IVF laboratory must have an effective and accurate system to uniquely identify, trace and locate
reproductive cells during each procedural step. A proper identification system should ensure that the main
characteristics of patients (or donors) and their tissues and cells, together with relevant data regarding products
and materials coming into contact with them, are available at all times.

Stem Cell Banking Department

Stem Cell Laboratory
 The laboratory should be located as far from potential contaminants as possible and in as clean a space as
possible.
 Sharing space or equipment with microbiology laboratories, or laboratories that utilize radioactive isotopes
should be avoided, as that arrangement may increase the risk of product contamination.
  A sink and water supply for hand washing and cleaning within the laboratory or nearby is important.
 When first establishing a transplant program, a relatively small dedicated space or even a clearly defined shared
space is typically sufficient for a CPL, provided product safety risks such as cross contamination or product mix-
ups are taken into consideration with the design and location.
 The space containing the LN2 storage tanks should be separated from the processing laboratory and needs to
have sufficient air handling capacity to maintain safe levels of oxygen during the times when the LN2 tanks are
filling. An oxygen sensor that alarms when levels are dangerously low is highly recommended.
 Temperature and humidity of the laboratory space should be controlled to the extent possible to maintain
proper storage conditions for reagents and supplies, to ensure optimal performance of sensitive electronic
equipment and for employee comfort.

Gynecology Department
Emergency Department

The emergency department in Mother & Child hospital should be planned in such a way that emergency pregnancy & pediatric
cases can be handled over here.

Inpatient Area
The inpatient area shall cater for both antenatal and postnatal patients.

The bed numbers and mix will ultimately be determined by specific service conditions such as patient demographics,
operational policies, cultural issues etc.

Mother care areas shall be designed to suit mothers and babies who are well whereas the acute care area shall cater for
antenatal patients, post natal patients with complications or simply for mothers recovering from Caesarean sections.

Patient rooms shall be grouped together in zones corresponding to their different levels of dependency. The more relaxed
environment of mother care rooms can be located further away from the staff observation posts and the support areas
whereas the more clinical acute care rooms shall be located to allow for effective staff observation and ease of access from the
support areas.

Nursery Area
A Level 1 nursery (General Care) could be provided as a supplementary area to the maternity inpatient area, under a level 3 or
4 Obstetrics Unit. The general care nursery will provide for the general care of healthy babies, such as:

 Feeding the baby

 Bathing, changing and weighing the baby
 Allowing the baby to sleep during the day in blacked out conditions
 Provide education to staff and parents
 Phototherapy
 Short term care, including the provision of assisted ventilation, for babies who suffer from complications and
while they are waiting to be transferred to a neonatal intensive care unit/facility.
Conclusion
To conclude, above mentioned departments should be considered while planning mother & child hospital. Special care should
be taken while designing IVF & stem cell laboratory. In today’s healthcare scenario, efficiency must be balanced with creating
an appropriate environment for patients. Standardization and sharing of workspaces are just two examples of how we can
create separate brands and identities, while not overbuilding. And that’s the challenge we need to consider.

Pediatric Hospital Planning & Designing

Introduction
A ‘Pediatric Hospital’ or ‘Children’s Hospital’ is a hospital which offers its services exclusively to children and adolescents. In
Children’s hospital case, the hospital design became especially important because children are in a singular condition of
learning and interact with the world around, requiring specific activities for a normal development. Thus, hospital design
should offer a homely comfort while bringing the outside facilities (school, playground areas, social rooms, etc.) to the inside.
Considering the above facts, Hospaccx team participates in ‘Pediatric Hospital Planning and Designing’. This is macroficial study
of Pediatric Hospital planning and designing if you want to get into more detail you can contact info@hhbc.in

Planning & Designing of Pediatric Hospital

PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care unit)

PICU should be a separate unit from the Neonatal and Adult ICU dedicated to infants and children Unit design should take into
consideration future adaptability and expansion and must maximize the resource of space, equipment, and personnel in a
most affordable way for individual institutions. No traffic to other departments should pass through the unit. The unit should
be located near lift with easy access to emergency department and operation theatre, laboratory and radiology department.
Size of PICU
 The ideal PICU size cannot be stated but six to ten beds is desirable. PICUs with less than 4 beds risk inefficiency
and PICUs with greater than 16 beds may be difficult to manage, if not properly divided.
 For the total pediatric ward, beds up to 25 and a PICU of six to eight beds is ideal.

PICU Design and Bed Area

 Room layout should allow actual visualization of all patients from central station.
 PICU cubicles should have sliding glass doors to allow full visibility. In rooms, windows are important to prevent a
sense of isolation. Adequate lighting, child friendly wall papering or paintings with soothing colors and curtains
are desirable.
 Patient area in open PICU should be 150 to 200 sq. ft. In a cubicle, the minimum area should be 200 to 250
square feet with at least one wash basin for two beds. However, one for each bed is preferred.
 At least one, preferably two rooms should have an isolation capability with an area of 250 square feet with an
ante room (separate area at least 20 square feet for hand washing and wearing mask and gown) and separate
ventilation.
 The area around the bed should allow enough space for performing routine ICU procedures such as central lines,
chest tube placement, as well as for easy access for portable X-ray machine, portable ultrasound,
electrocardiograph and portable electroencephalograph machine.
 Wall and ceilings should be constructed of materials with high sound absorption capabilities. Wall oxygen outlets
(two), air outlet (one), two suction outlets, and at least ten electrical outlets per bed are recommended for
various equipments.

Pediatric OT
Pediatric operation theatre must be spacious enough to accompany all the required equipments and should not be
claustrophobic for kids. OT has good and comfortable OT table with C-arm facility. Boyle’s apparatus is the new trend for
surgical safety of kids. Exclusive pediatric anesthetic assistant should be there for all classes.

Pediatric OPD
General centralized OPD is always preferred.
Early diagnosis & curative services are provided in pediatric OPD on ambulatory basis for common childhood ailments.

Pediatric Emergency Department

It is desirable to have emergency department ground floor. It should be located nearer to entrance of hospital. Pediatric
emergency medicine (PEM) is a medical subspecialty of both pediatrics and emergency medicine. It involves the care of
undifferentiated, unscheduled children with acute illnesses or injuries that require immediate medical attention. While not
usually providing long-term or continuing care, pediatric emergency doctors undertake the necessary investigations and
interventions to diagnose patients in the acute phase, to liaise with physicians from other specialties, and to resuscitate and
stabilize children who are seriously ill or injured. Pediatric emergency physicians generally practice in hospital emergency
departments.

High Dependency Unit

This should be located nearer to emergency department. Some hospitals have High Dependency Units (HDUs), also called step-
down units. HDUs are wards for people who need more intensive observation, treatment and nursing than it is possible to
provide on general wards or maternity units, but less than is given on an ITU.

Pediatric General Ward

The separate section should be provided to design general ward for infants.

Isolation Room
Separate room is provided for infants having contagious diseases.

Play Area
Common play areas for patients and families to interact can be a source of healing and distraction for children and their
families. Siblings have something to do while parents are participating in the care of the patient.

General Considerations
Infection control
Infection control is one of the important factor especially when we are dealing with infants. In specifying floor materials,
seamless surfaces are best, particularly where infection risk is highest, such as surgical areas. For sinks, solid surfaces with
integral sink bowls minimize seams, contributing to infection control measures. Infection risk can also be minimized through
careful selection of furnishings and materials. The less porous a surface, the easier it is to clean and maintain.

Light & Acoustics

From neonates to teenagers, pediatric patients are different from adults in that their bodies are constantly growing and
adapting to the world around them. For a child spending much of his or her days in a hospital setting, the constant exposure to
indoor lighting is not healthy for still-developing eyes.

As for acoustics, the noises associated with hospitals (especially at night) can disrupt the sleep of younger patients, hindering
the healing process. Noisy hospital environments have also been known to lead to medical errors (such as incorrect medication
dosages), by clinical staff.

Privacy
The benefits of private rooms tend to vary based on a number of factors. Pediatric cancer patients, for example, might benefit
from and desire the companionship of a roommate with a similar diagnosis and care plan. Patients recovering from an injury,
on the other hand, may prefer healing alone. This should be taken into account when designing patient rooms for potential
flexible and adaptable configurations, based on the care population and care model.

Positive Distraction
Creating a connection between indoor spaces and the outdoor environment can also be a successful positive distraction.
Windows provide a view to the outdoors but also help remove patients from the often-clinical feeling of the hospital
environment. This helps to restore homeostasis by providing the horizon as a reference and also has a positive impact on the
healing process.

Furnishing
When planning healthcare units, space is always at a premium, trying to accomplish multiple zones within patient rooms while
minimizing square footage and cost. For that reason, furnishings must be compact, yet flexible enough to serve a number of
purposes. They also must adapt to the needs of each particular patient.

Conclusion
Child-friendly, not childish – that’s the mantra. Designing for young patients means designing spaces that inspire confidence,
encourage playfulness, and offer hope. Our goal is to deliver pediatric spaces that convey confidence and technical currency,
that encourage interaction and patient engagement and instill a sense of home for all ages.