Hull hospital uses VR headsets to give parents pregnancy insight

An NHS trust is using virtual reality to give pregnant mothers and their partners an insight into giving birth.

Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust said VR headsets allowed people to “experience” what it was like “to be in the birth centre, on the labour ward or in the operating theatre”.

They can also see a caesarean section being performed at the Fatima Allam Birth Centre.

Earlier this year, the trust produced a virtual tour of its maternity services.

Head of midwifery Janet Cairns said: “The headsets mean people feel like they are in the room, seeing the facilities all around them and watching how midwives interact with mothers and partners during labour.”

It has been developed by the trust’s Hull Institute of Learning and Simulation team which is based at Hull Royal Infirmary.

The trust said 130 parents had so far tested the technology with “94% saying the experience overall helped them feel better prepared for the birth of their babies”.