Could this be the new reality in childbirth?

VIRTUAL reality can distract from very real pain.

VR headsets are being offered to mums-to-be during labour to help distract from the painful experience.

The immersive entertainment “has been shown to be a valid, non-pharmacologic method to treat pain and anxiety”, according to a report

published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology . “This study shows promise that immersive virtual reality use in labour can decrease pain and potentially decrease the use of IV pain medication to allow an improved experience for women during labour,” the study authors wrote.

One trial is taking place at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. The institution is offering VR headsets to women in early labour who have had traumatic births, the BBC reports.

“I’m submerged in a herd of buffaloes, and there’s one right there,” participant Hannah Lelii told the BBC in a video where she was wearing the headset. “The breathing techniques, and where you’re based [in the VR] – a beach scene or a water scene – they aim to relax you.”

Tech developers have told the BBC there have been some 900 clinical trials regarding pain and anxiety reduction through virtual reality.

Participants in a study at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles also found that VR helped with labour pains. The VR “takes you out of that hospital room”, Aviva Lahmany, 26, told the Wall Street Journal of her labour. “I was able to actually breathe. It really helped centre me and calm me.”