"A screen was designed to hide emergency equipment with the joint aim of reducing women's anxieties and (through visual art) acting as a focal point of attention and distraction during labour, thus diminishing requirements for analgesia. Results demonstrated, in the presence of the screen, a statistically significant shortening of the duration of labour by 2.1h"

Uh, I don't have access to the full article, but was the control hiding the equipment with a blank screen or no screen at all?

Cause if the control was no screen at all, I don't think they were testing what they say they were testing:

"The significant clinical outcomes of this research provide the evidence of the value of integrating visual art into the environment of a labour and delivery room, improving the quality of the maternity service and potentially delivering real cost savings benefits to Hospitals."