As both women’s health and FemTech gained importance, and virtual reality was more accepted as a new technology, I looked at Medline publications from 2025 addressing the use of VR in obstetrics. My interest in the application of virtual reality to pregnancy dates back to 2018 and the Cedars-Sinai Virtual Medicine Conference, where I hosted a patient panel. The speakers included a woman who described having used virtual reality successfully during labor for her second child, and who would go on repeat the experience with her third child. In 2021, also at Cedars-Sinai, but in the obstetrics practice, a randomized controlled trial conducted by Dr Melissa Wong, whom I had had the opportunity to see on stage, showed that virtual reality could reduce pain in laboring women. That study made it clear that the use of VR in obstetrics was now being examined through rigorous clinical research.
And thanks to this latest search for 2025 publications, we will see new data from the pregnancy and childbirth pathway.
January 2025 — Virtual reality during prenatal monitoring (non-stress tests)
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in January 2025 examined the use of virtual reality during non-stress tests (NSTs) in the third trimester of pregnancy. The analysis included four randomized controlled trials involving 681 pregnant women.
Non-stress tests are routine third-trimester monitoring procedures that assess fetal well-being by recording fetal heart-rate responses to movement over a 20–40-minute period, without inducing contractions or physiological stress.
Across the included trials, VR use during NSTs was associated with:
- significantly lower maternal anxiety,
- increased maternal satisfaction,
- improvements in fetal physiological parameters (including heart rate and accelerations),
- a higher likelihood of achieving a reactive NST, with a shorter time to reactivity.
These findings suggest that, in a clearly defined diagnostic and monitoring context, VR may improve patient experience and procedural conditions without pharmacological intervention.
Reference
Baradwan S, Khadawardi K, Hamid OA, et al.
The impact of virtual reality on maternal anxiety, satisfaction, and fetal outcomes among pregnant women undergoing non-stress tests: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Health Care for Women International. 2025;46(9):1047–1062.
PMID: 39847547
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39847547/
April 2025 — Evidence during labor itself
Published in April 2025, a randomized controlled trial addressed the use of virtual reality during labor itself, a context that is methodologically and clinically distinct from pregnancy monitoring.
The study included 60 women in labor, comparing standard care with a VR-delivered video intervention used during the active and transition phases of childbirth. The intervention group experienced:
- significantly lower pain levels during both phases,
- significantly lower anxiety levels, which decreased over time in the VR group while increasing in controls,
- no difference in postpartum perception of birth between groups.
The technical characteristics of the intervention are not fully specified, making it difficult to determine the degree of immersion or interactivity. Nevertheless, this trial provides controlled evidence suggesting that VR-delivered video interventions may reduce pain and anxiety during labor, while underscoring the need for larger and more precisely described studies.
Reference
Boyuk M, Çıtak Bilgin N.
Childbirth Journey Through Virtual Reality: Pain, Anxiety and Birth Perception: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Research in Nursing & Health. 2025 Apr;48(2):179–189.
PMID: 39749486
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39749486/
August 2025 — Anxiety management during pregnancy beyond a single procedure
A second systematic review and meta-analysis, published in August 2025, examined virtual reality interventions used during pregnancy more broadly, beyond a single diagnostic procedure. This analysis included five randomized controlled trials involving 807 pregnant women and focused primarily on maternal anxiety.
The pooled results showed a statistically significant reduction in anxiety in the VR intervention groups compared with controls (mean difference = –7.63; 95 % CI [–12.98, –2.28]; p = 0.005). Although heterogeneity between studies was substantial (I² = 94 %), sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the effect.
This review suggests that anxiety reduction associated with VR is not limited to procedural settings, but may extend across different moments of pregnancy.
Reference
Shi X, Liang C, Ren H, Liao C, Yue N.
The effect of virtual reality on pregnant women and fetuses: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics. 2025 Aug;312(2):337–350.
PMID: 40366438
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40366438/
What the 2025 medical literature clarifies
Read in chronological order, these publications trace a coherent arc: from prenatal monitoring, to labor itself, to anxiety management across pregnancy as a whole. They do not settle questions of routine clinical use, but they do bring greater precision to outcomes that matter in obstetric care—anxiety, pain, patient experience, and procedural conditions—at different moments along the care pathway.
Meta-analyses support anxiety reduction during pregnancy and prenatal monitoring, while a randomized trial suggests potential benefits during labor itself. At the same time, variability in intervention design and reporting highlights the need for better standardization.
The 2025 literature helps delineate where evidence is strongest, where it remains provisional, and which questions now deserve more precise study.
Denise Silber
