An Artful Childbirth

A picture may be worth a lot more than a thousand words to women in the throes of childbirth. New research at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London indicates that gazing at art can significantly shorten labor. Women whose hospital rooms contained screens covered with abstract forms in earthy colors labored for two hours less than a similar group whose rooms were unadorned. According to Rosalia Lelchuk Staricoff, who led the study, the visual stimulus reduced the stress and fear that sometimes inhibit labor. But Susan Loppert, an art historian affiliated with the project, notes that the works must be chosen carefully. “Works by Edvard Munch or Picasso may be inappropriate for a hospital setting,” she says.

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