A randomized controlled trial of Golden Ratio, Feng Shui, and evidence based design in healthcare.

Background: In a global effort to design better hospital buildings for people and organizations, some design principles are still surrounded by great mystery. The aim of this online study was to compare anxiety in an existing single-bed inpatient hospital room with three redesigns of this room in accordance with the principles of Golden Ratio, Feng Shui, and Evidence-Based Design.

Methods: In this online multi-arm parallel-group randomized trial participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to one of four conditions, namely Golden Ratio condition, Feng Shui condition, Evidence-Based Design condition, or the control condition.

Effects of lactation room quality on working mothers' feelings and thoughts related to breastfeeding and work: a randomized controlled trial and a field experiment.

Background: The challenging combination of breastfeeding and work is one of the main reasons for early breastfeeding cessation. Although the availability of a lactation room (defined as a private space designated for milk expression or breastfeeding) is important in enabling the combination of breastfeeding and work, little is known about the effects of lactation room quality on mothers' feelings and thoughts related to breastfeeding and work. We hypothesized that a high-quality lactation room (designed using the Theory of Supportive Design) would cause mothers to experience less stress, have more positive thoughts about milk expression at work, perceive more organizational support, and report more subjective well-being, than a low-quality lactation room.

A cross-sectional study of lactation room quality and Dutch working mothers' satisfaction, perceived ease of, and perceived support for breast milk expression at work.

Background: The challenge of combining professional work and breastfeeding is a key reason why women choose not to breastfeed or to stop breastfeeding early. We posited that having access to a high-quality lactation room at the workplace could influence working mothers' satisfaction and perceptions related to expressing breast milk at work, which could have important longer term consequences for the duration of breastfeeding. Specifically, we aimed to (1) develop a checklist for assessing the quality of lactation rooms and (2) explore how lactation room quality affects lactating mothers' satisfaction and perceptions.