School of Engineering and Computer Science

VR Experiences for Pregnant Women

Pregnant women use a range of non-pharmacological pain relief methods to help manage and reduce pain intensity and to induce relaxation. We conducted a study with 18 pregnant women to explore VR experiences as a non-pharmacological method of pain relief to determine the effect on pain intensity. The results of the study identified several themes: evoking emotion with sub-themes, memory, and imagination. The theme presence, with sub-themes of relatability, realism, immersion, interactivity, and narration. Finally, the escape and anchoring themes were descriptions of how women envisaged using VR antenatally. This study provides a novel contribution to the field of VR and antenatal and labour care which can help inform the design of VR experiences for pregnant women.

People

• Lorna Massov
• Brian Robinson
• Edgar Rodriquez Ramirez
• Robyn Maude
• Craig Anslow

Partners

• Te Whatu Ora | Health NZ

Publications

• Lorna Massov, Brian Robinson, Edgar Rodriquez Ramirez, Robyn Maude, and Craig Anslow. VR Experiences for Pregnant Women During Antenatal Care. In Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST), Christchurch, New Zealand, 2023.