Private maternity clients are transferred to the private maternity suites a few hours after the birth of their baby. The purpose of the suites is to allow the mother to recover from the birth in a supported environment. The suites are located within the hospital, where alerts, calls and paging systems operate.

The safe arrival of a baby is a joyful occasion for parents, but it is also a time of big changes. New parents are learning to juggle the responsibilities of feeding and caring for a new baby. Trying to snatch a few hours of sleep can be a challenge.

A private client approached Soundmask seeking a solution to the noise problems caused by her suite being located near the nurses station. The paging, conversations and alerts were disturbing her sleep and recuperation.

Ideally, sound masking would be a standard inclusion in maternity hospital design. However, in this case the system was to be temporary—just while the new mother stayed in the hospital. It was important that the installation would not damage the hospital interior. Soundmask installed an under floor transducer, placed on top of the cupboard, connected to a generator.

Once the system was operating, the client was able to rest and recover without disturbance from paging, alerts and nurses conversations. The system was easy to remove upon departure.

During the stay, the Victorian Infant Hearing Screening Program (VIHSP) attended the suite to screen the hearing of the newborn baby. The screen, performed using standard technology (Automated Auditory Brainstem Response AABR), was completed both with and without the Soundmask system operating. The Soundmask system did not interfere with the sensitive equipment, or the newborn baby’s hearing.