VR Aids Labour Pains

We have spoken at length before about how VR is being used in healthcare as both an educational and a training tool, but less so about how immersive systems can positively impact pain management. This, however, is a growing area of interest, and one that seems to have huge potential.

Alternatives to Pharmaceuticals in Pain Management

This exciting field – often termed “non-pharmacological intervention” – is being investigated as a credible alternative to dosing patients up with pills. Non-pharmacological interventions (NPI) are already used in a range of mental-health situations such as dementia, and is typically a detour method of management. The patient is distracted from the effects of their illness, giving them respite. But NPI also covers a range of other treatments such as acupuncture, TENS, massage, and psychotherapy. It’s basically anything that does not include pharmaceutical use.  

While all of these have some impact on pain, none of them really impact cute discomfort like opioids and are only quite limited in their pain suppression. However, recent investigations have shown that VR can have a substantial influence on pain suppression in childbirth. 

Naturally giving birth to children – as opposed to an anaesthetised C-section – is regarded as a painful experience, but one that more women want to experience naturally. The reasons for this are essentially two-fold; 

• Many women regard pain relief as being unnatural, and consider that the sacredness of childbirth should be as real as possible, regardless of the pain involved.
• There is a growing movement against the use of unnatural chemicals being a major part of bringing another human into the world.

These factors mean that some alternative means of pain relief is needed. Sure, TENS, or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, as it is more formally known, has some impact, but its results vary from woman to woman, and some women still consider the introduction of electric stimuli as being unnatural, and shun it along with the chemicals. 

So, What About VR?

Several diversionary strategies, including as music therapy, visualisation, and hypnobirthing, have demonstrated significant efficacy in alleviating labour pain without the use of unwanted chemicals.  Similarly, virtual reality is being shown to be a very promising method that has effectively decreased acute pain and anxiety in many healthcare environments in a more natural way.

Virtual reality enables users to immerse themselves in a range of computer-generated 3D environments via the headset, where they engage in a multi-sensory experience. The effectiveness of virtual reality in relieving pain is mostly determined on the degree of presence and immersion experienced throughout the process. While this is still a distraction technique, the fact that it is immersive seems to provide the user with a far greater level of contentment, blocking out a higher level of perceived pain.

But studies have shown that there is more to it than simple diversion. Through the regulation of the participants’ breathing and the provision of a sense of control over the labour process, virtual reality was discovered to be an effective method for managing labour pain. Through the use of sights, noises, and the immersive experience that comes with the virtual reality environment, the participants in the research were able to better manage and bear the discomfort associated with physical labour.

In addition, it was found that, in most cases, the VR environment also enhanced the research participants’ self-assurance in effectively coping with the discomfort of contractions throughout the active stage of labour. By diverting their attention, it prevented them from focusing on discomfort, therefore diminishing their perception of pain. The research participants were able to effectively control the labour pain by synchronising their breathing with the images and sounds of the VR environment, resulting in a state of relaxation and calmness.

Where Next?

There are currently a number of studies going on, investigating the extent of pain relief. Recently, there was a research package that consists of 25 pregnant women who were interviewed in depth between one and two weeks after giving birth. Of these women, 19 of them employed VR during the early and active stages of labour. The VR scenarios that were encountered by all of the participants in the study included scenes of animals on safari, views of dolphins swimming underwater, and scenes of tropical beaches. Each qualitative in-depth interview was transcribed and audio recorded by the members of the scientific team. For the purpose of analysing the qualitative data, thematic analysis was utilised.    

The impact of VR on pain management was reported to be “significant”, and by that measure, it is something that will gain a lot more attention and investigation. However, such systems are not without issues. For a start, many women tend to want to use the water-birth alternative and we know how electronics are a poor mix with water. Then there is the issue of content length, and how that would fit with the labour period. While an unnamed Polish woman was purportedly in labour for an excruciating 75 days in 2012, but the average UK labour period is between 8 and 18 hours, which is much longer than any relaxing video content available on Meta. Obviously, this isn’t a deal-breaker, and it would be fairly easy to produce extended length videos and with content that was appropriate to labour pains.

 

Labour pain is often cited as one of the worst since it is relentless until the child is born and owing to the number of shunning pain killers, it is one that needs intervention. If you have a killer idea for something that can ease the pain, and is deliverable through VR, why not contact us at Unity Developers and see how we can help you realise its potential.