UK hospitals widening labor room doors for obese mothers
January 11, 2009 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Women's Health
Obesity is approaching epidemic proportions in some places. I read a statistic yesterday that found that obese women in a particular ethnic group now outnumbers women in that group who are merely overweight.
Obesity is often in the news too because of issues like seating. In Canada, airlines have been ordered to provide two seats for the price of one for obese people who can’t fit in regulation sized seats. And now, it seems that this issue is affecting hospitals.
In the United Kingdom, several leading hospitals have had to widen the doors to their maternity centers to make it easier for obese mothers to get in and out. According to an article in The Daily Mail, 30 out of 33 birthing centers in London have had to make this adjustment. Not only are they widening the doors, they have the expense of buying new beds that can accommodate the weight.
You can read about the issue in this article, Maternity wards forced to widen delivery-room doors for obese mothers.
Maybe the standard will change, with the wider doors being the accepted width as institutions are built and renovated over the next few years.
~~~~
Tags: pregnancy blog, obese mothers
