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Martucci, a homemaker from New Hampton, New York, was skeptical, but her husband convinced her to try. She put on the helmet and was immediately transported to a beach scene where a soothing voice guided her focus and her breathing. A few hours later – which seemed a lot less pleasant – his doctor removed the headset: it was time to push. Shortly after, her daughter was born.
The experience, she recently told CNN Business, was surreal. She never forgot that she was giving birth, but the visual elements of virtual reality and her disembodied voice helped her to calm down and to distract her. watch out for his pain. Nearly three years later, Martucci is pregnant with her third child, expected for October. She has already spoken to her doctor about how she would like to use virtual reality again.
"We will definitely be addressing birth with the use of virtual reality and the absence of drugs," she said.
Although virtual reality has not touched most consumers, headphones are starting to come out of the labs and become regular medical practices, including during labor and delivery. Physicians are beginning to see technology as another way to combat work-related pain and reduce discomfort during routine procedures such as inserting an intrauterine device.
Martucci is part of a very small but growing group of women wishing to try this technology, despite the fact that virtually no scientific research proves its effectiveness during work. Across the country, the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa, California, has a dozen headphones, one that patients can use during the early stages of labor and for routine gynecological procedures in the office.
"Even just helping them relax or mastering certain breathing techniques in difficult situations is a great way to look forward to starting to walk," said Jonathan Kurss, a gynecologist at Santa Rosa Memorial.
An evidence
Kurss is one of the doctors interviewed by CNN Business who said they expect RV to become more and more popular for pain relief – and for work in particular – in the years to come. come. According to Kurss, one of the main reasons is that US hospitals and doctors have decided to look for non-medical solutions for the treatment of pain in response to the opioid epidemic that is currently plaguing the country.
Another possible reason? People who are interested in virtual reality are often tech savvy and younger – the same age group that can also have children.
Melissa Wong, a fetal medicine physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles who studies VR during labor, believes that the potential of this technology as an alternative and complementary method of pain relief will also help RV to get better results. implanting.
"I think it's obvious," she says.
But much of this research focuses on isolated episodes of pain that go down and down, such as an injection or a blood test. It's only recently that doctors and researchers have begun to understand how it can help people with persistent pain, such as women in labor. This group is often presented with few options to cope with exercises other than breathing, intravenous medications and an epidural anesthetic for the lower body; in large part because of the complexity of conducting medical studies on pregnant women.
Wong tries to make clear how virtual reality could be useful for labor and delivery by conducting a study herself, which should be published next spring. His study, like that of the University of Michigan, is a randomized controlled trial: one group of women was able to use virtual reality headsets, others not. But he is taller, with 40 patients, and measures what happened to the patients' pain over a longer period.
Wong can not yet talk about the specific results, but she said that every participant in the study who had tried virtual reality had said that he would recommend the technology to other women in the workplace.
The happiness of work?
"Open your heart and get your baby's love," I implored a woman's voice, like brightly colored orbs levitating in the distance.
I could not help but laugh, though the application – the one Wong had used in his study, called "Labor Bliss" – was apparently trying to help me overcome painful contractions.
I am not giving birth, but I have visited it once and I will do it again in the months to come. I have therefore visited the Santa Rosa memorial. There, I put on a helmet and tried to exploit my past experience and my anxiety about the future to imagine the use of virtual reality during childbirth, both strange and incredibly painful.
"Labor Bliss" transports helmet wearers into a wild landscape, with rocks, trees, fireflies and a campfire. There is voice guidance. And this was clearly not for me.
I've also tried applications that put me under water when dolphins were swimming nearby, as well as an app that allowed me to stay on a peaceful shore when the waves crashed on the beach . they felt a little less stupid and caught my attention for a few moments, at least.
Although they may distract people who are afraid of running their blood, the apps did not seem to be the kind of thing that would relax me during childbirth. But virtual reality is not suitable for everyone, even in the best circumstances. Some people may have nausea, for example. Therefore, combining the technology with a painful experience such as work (which can in itself make you nauseated) can make some patients feel worse.
"There is no single solution for all of this," said Wong.
And, as Martucci discovered, it is impossible to predict what will work best as long as you do not use it.
"It was surreal," she says. "Holy cow, are you making fun of me?" I did. "How did this equipment help me?" But that really did it. "
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