New headset could help women with labour pain

WOMEN going through labour are being given virtual reality headsets to distract them from the pain as part of an innovative new trial.

The University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in Cardiff is testing the equipment on mums-to-be to see if it can be used as a relaxation tool alongside, or instead of, traditional methods of pain relief.

The headsets, which are made by developers Rescape and cost between £3,000 and £4,000 each to loan for a year, allow women to choose from six different experiences.

They can transport women to serene underwater settings, picturesque sandy beaches or be among wildlife with accompanying commentary from David Attenborough.

“We have never done anything

like this in maternity services before,” said midwife Suzanne Hardacre.

“This is a really exciting and innovative project, bringing another dimension to the care we can give to women.

“It has the ability to take women to a place where they can be distracted from their early labour pain.”

However, she admitted that virtual reality was not suitable for every woman coming through the doors of the maternity unit.

“Some women who suffer with significant pain find that the immersion is a little too much of a distraction,” she said.

“Understandably, there are women who want to be present and in the moment. But offering another, non-pharmaceutical aspect of pain relief can only be seen as a positive.”

Before the experience begins, women are asked to rate their pain and anxiety levels from one to 10. They are then asked to record them again after using the headset.

While this trial is focusing on those in the early stages of labour, Suzanne said there is scope to widen the use of this technology to other patients.

“Potentially this could be used on women who have had traumatic experiences in previous births,” she added.

“The VR could allow them to go through a ‘virtual tour’ of the whole process again in a more positive way and allow them to overcome their anxieties of the labour ward.”

The University Hospital of Wales, Wales’ largest hospital, deals with around 5,600 births every year and is the first in the UK to trial this on pregnant women.

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said it will arrange a feedback session in the near future to gauge the response of the first raft of new mums to trial the headsets.

Co-founder of Cardiff-based Rescape, Glenn Hapgood, said the devices are also being used in the paediatric emergency unit at UHW, on cystic fibrosis patients in University Hospital Llandough and on scoliosis patients.

“Out of the 1,300 patients who had gone through it, there has been a 50% pain relief reduction – and there have been no adverse reactions which is great,” he said.

“The possibilities with this technology are endless.”