Ángela Müller and Marta Parra are responsible for Parra-Müller. Maternidades Architecture, an architectural project that initially emerged to renovate hospital spaces for childbirth care, and provide them with warmth, comfort and functionality, both for women, professionals and companions.
Both are architects and mothers, and it is precisely motherhood, which made these women realize how important it is to feel comfortable and clothed at the crucial moment of childbirth. Therefore, they decided to join to develop a project that, little by little, is transforming the spaces of some hospitals in our country.
How "Parra-Müller" was born
When going to the hospital to give birth, there are several women who claim to feel vulnerable, poorly respected in their desires and very physically uncomfortable, as there are still many hospitals where they are forced to give birth or to expand without being able to move from the bed.
On several occasions we have talked about how these archaic protocols can influence the normal development of labor, in addition to the memory, sometimes very unpleasant and traumatic, which he leaves in the woman.
In Babies and more, one in ten women in Spain claims to have had a traumatic birth, according to a recent studyAngela and Marta have three children each, and through their own experiences giving birth, and hearing the stories of other women, midwives and gynecologists in the association El Parto es Nuestro to which they belong, they realized that something had to change.
So they joined professionally in 2007 and founded the "Parra-Müller" studio, with the aim of improving childbirth care through the architectural design of hospital spaces.Over time, his humanized vision of spaces began to go beyond the area of motherhood, and both professionals they also work in other health spaces, such as the Aranda de Duero Oncology Day Hospital, its latest project.
"We are currently working on several lines, with very interesting and diverse projects: we are writing a book for a university publishing house that collects our thoughts, evidence and good practices around birth and birth spaces, since in Spanish there is nothing published "- Marta tells us when asked about her latest works.
"We are also developing a mental health project of a hospital, since we have realized that The field of mental health is one of the forgotten specialties of our health system, apart from being, possibly, the field where the environment can have the most impact "
A humanized and welcoming birth area
Low intervention delivery unit, HM Nuevo Belén hospital For both architects, Giving birth in a hospital should not be synonymous with discomfort, loss of intimacy or impersonality. In fact, the well-being and comfort of the mother and the baby should be the priority objectives, and this is what they intend to achieve with their architectural vision of humanized and respected birth.
Since 10 years ago they started working together, they have made innovative projects in delivery rooms and neonatology of different hospitals in our country, such as the Getafe Hospital, the maternity area of the HM Puerta del Sur Hospital, or the low intensity delivery unit of the Nuevo Belén Clinic, awarded the IIDA international award.
Maternity area of the Getafe Hospital Among the most notable architectural changes that both professionals introduce in their projects, is the creation of a ample, intimate, friendly and welcoming space, with rest area for companions and health professionals, private bathroom, and areas of expansion, both in the water and in movement.
And it is precisely the need for pregnant women to move freely during the dilation process, one of the aspects that inspires these architects when designing their parishes. To do this, they include a spatial design, along with functional furniture, to encourage the parturient to move, having the Support points and materials needed at all times, so that she is the one who controls the space and not vice versa.
In Babies and more The probability that your delivery ends in caesarean section is halfway if they let you push for a little more time For Marta and Ángela, the delivery rooms should have natural light, and an environment that breaks with what we associate with hospital and cold and aseptic operating room - where the woman is seen as a passive element.
Maternity area of HM Puerta del Sur Hospital This was explained by Ángela and Marta in an article published in 2015 and entitled "The architecture of motherhood. Recover and create our spaces":
"The birth and birth spaces must produce and ensure the cozy, warm and comfortable environment that the woman in labor needs. They must also guarantee her, her baby and those who accompany them the security and privacy they need "
"The spaces thought from the care for the perception of the parturient and their physical and environmental needs, generate a liberating process at a very vulnerable time for the people involved. The immediate consequence is a transformation of the empowerment of women at the beginning of their maternity"
This idea of a single delivery room, which houses a friendly space for women during their labor, can be new in our country, but not in other European countries, where it has been operating in hospitals for years.
What results have these architectural changes had?
In summer 2014, the low intervention delivery unit of the Nuevo Belén Hospital concluded, and there is nothing better than the figures and statistics to know how these architectural changes have influenced the births that have taken place since then.
If we look at the data published by the hospital itself, we can check the following:
Of the 879 patients treated from 2014 to 2017, the 86% of them had a vaginal delivery, and 14% were caesarean section, considerably reducing the rate of caesarean section that we have in our country (especially in private health), and placing the percentage within the recommendations stipulated by WHO.
In addition, 77% of women with previous caesarean section gave birth naturally.
All the women they were able to opt for the analgesic method that they considered most effective: water in a birthing bath, walking, use of help material with ball, liana etc ... 54% of women opted for do not use Epidural anesthesia.
In Babies and moreAnalgesia in childbirth: pain control techniques without using anesthesia- Only 12% of deliveries were instrumental, and the recorded episiotomies were 6%.
So, it is clear that space matters a lot when it comes to achieving an intimate birth, respectful and human, with all the advantages and benefits that this has for mother and baby.
But it is not enough to change the architectural design ...
Contrary to what it might seem to the naked eye, this type of project does not have a high cost, nor does it have to be something exclusive, but it is something necessary that should be implemented in all hospitals.
But to be able change the perspective and achieve a more human motherhood, the architects agree that not only is the architectural design important, but that a change of mentality is needed in the health personnel involved, which entails a change in the protocols and procedures.
"But a delivery room cannot be a stage. It is very complicated to give birth on stage, in front of unknown spectators, with the genitals exposed. It is something that we have assumed culturally, but that does not correspond at all with the physiology of childbirth""Whenever there is an integral change of model, strong synergies occur with other change agents, and in turn, resistors appear that try to perpetuate the existing model "Because it has always been done like this" - Marta Parra tells us.
The Parra-Müller projects have had a great reception among those professionals and organizations that are committed to change.
"We have always focused on the people and organizations that are committed to innovation and that are permeable to improvements, and in that sense, we have been very lucky with our clients and collaborators. Because in addition, the impact of space in our lives is so substantial that the benefits are noticed immediately. Because we all like to be, live, work in pleasant and, above all, healthy environments. "
"Our commitment to go through all the scales from the eyes of the needs of all the people involved, has allowed us to work, both in the initial phases of projects, and in the final details, which are the ones that most change the user experience. "
Hopefully, little by little the poems of Ángela Müller and Marta Parra will be implemented in the hospitals of our country, and manage to change the vision of childbirth that still exists in too many centers. Why the big changes start with small steps.
Photos | David Frutos for Parra-Müller
Acknowledgments | Ángela Müller and Marta Parra
