"Birthing suites provide a much more comfortable setting for the patient.

They resemble a bedroom rather than a hospital room,'' said Mrs. Gaynell Hayward, Maternity Ward coordinator.

"So when the Hospital decided to expand, the maternity staff as well as obstetricians and general practitioners pushed for them,'' she said.

Birthing suites are individual rooms where women labour and give birth.

Prior to the new facilities, women laboured in a six-bedded open area divided by petitions. Then they had to be transferred to the delivery table.

With the birthing suites, however, women are not required to move. They labour and give birth in the birthing room. "And the suites allow the mother and father or support person to have private moments together -- they get a lot of privacy,'' said Mrs. Hayward.

There are four birthing suites in the ward which brings the maternity unit occupancy level to twenty-five including anti-natal and post-partum beds.

But every patient that goes into labour uses the birthing suite, providing they're having a regular delivery.

And each birthing suite is equipped with a resuscitation area as well as a bathroom. "Before we had to push the resuscitator into the delivery room,'' said Mrs. Hayward. "But now it's accessible at any time. And the mother can get a shower after delivery in her own private bathroom.'' "Women who experienced the ward before the renovations have remarked on what a difference the suites make,'' she added. "The rooms are much quieter now and giving birth becomes more personal.

The Maternity Ward expansions also enabled nurses to have a sitting area, proper changing room and bathroom facilities. In addition, the nursery was made bigger. "The renovations in the nursery provided for a transition room for babies that need ventilation in the intensive care unit. A neonatal ICU has been added on for ventilator babies until they are transferred upstairs,'' said Mrs. Hayward.

All equipment in the Maternity Ward is very up to date, according to Mrs.

Esther Murray, assistant unit coordinator. "The paediatric and obstetric care is excellent,'' she said. "Sometimes we even get visitors from abroad that deliver prematurely and they're very happy with the birth process.'' Pregnant mothers have more control over their own care than ever before. And according to Mrs. Hayward, the Maternity Ward focuses on the idea that pregnancy today should be looked at as a state of wellness rather than illness.

BIRTHING SUITE -- Mother and father await the birth of their baby in one of the Hospital's new birthing suites. The rooms, which were added on to the Maternity Ward in 1990, offer more privacy and comfort for the mother.