The Effect of Virtual Reality Glasses on Anxiety Level and Breast Milk Amount

The Effect of Virtual Reality Glasses Applied to Mothers Whose Babies Are in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit on the Level of Anxiety and the Amount of Breast Milk

Pain, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, etc. In coping with symptoms, virtual reality glasses are recommended as a distraction application. The study was planned to examine the effect of virtual reality glasses applied to mothers whose babies were in the neonatal intensive care unit, on the level of anxiety and the amount of breast milk.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Anxiety; Amount of Breast Milk
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Virtual reality glasses

Detailed Description

Although milk is expressed early and frequently, milk volume and milk production may be lower in some mothers in the first few weeks.For this reason, pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods have been focused on to increase prolactin secretion and breast milk production in mothers with premature babies. It is emphasized that practices such as breast massage, hot application, nutrition and fluid consumption of the mother, thinking about her baby or looking at her picture, and psychological relaxation during milk expression with a pump increase the amount of milk. It is thought that the mother's stress and anxiety negatively affect the amount of breast milk in preterm births, and that methods that provide relaxation and relief will contribute to breast milk production by reducing stress and anxiety. Pain, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, etc. In coping with symptoms, virtual reality glasses are recommended as a distraction application.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • Mersin, Turkey
    • Mersin University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Are between the ages of 18-45,
• Those who gave birth at a gestational age of 30 weeks or more,
• whose baby is still in intensive care,
• whose baby has started breastfeeding,
• Giving breast milk to her baby by expressing,
• Not using any medication that will affect milk supply,
• Not diagnosed with a psychiatric disease that will affect breastfeeding in the postpartum period,
• Those who have not had any breast-related surgery before,
• Understands Turkish and can communicate,
• Mothers who sign the Informed Volunteer Consent Form will be included in the research.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Those who are younger than 18 years of age or older than 45 years of age,
• The gestational age is less than 30 weeks,
• whose baby was discharged from intensive care,
• whose baby has not started breastfeeding,
• Those who do not express breast milk to their babies,
• Using medication that will affect milk supply,
• Diagnosed with a psychiatric disease that will affect breastfeeding in the postpartum period,
• Have had any breast-related surgery before,
• Cannot communicate in Turkish,
• Mothers who do not sign the Informed Volunteer Consent Form will not be included in the research.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Virtual reality glasses; First of all, the "State Anxiety Inventory" will be applied to all women (60 women).Then, milk will be expressed from both breasts once a day (10:00) for the first 3 days and the amount of milk expressed will be recorded in the "Breast Milk Amount Tracking Form". After the first 3 days, all women will be relaxed by watching virtual reality glasses (10 minutes) once a day (10:00 in the morning) for 3 days, and the "State Anxiety Inventory" will be applied at the end of the video. Then, milk will be expressed from both breasts and recorded in the "Breast Milk Amount Tracking Form".

Other: Virtual reality glasses; Videos consisting of nature and undersea images will be played through virtual reality glasses, which the woman wants to watch and can change whenever she wants.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
State-Anxiety Inventory	In the Likert-type scale consisting of 20 items, the items are numbered from 1 to 4 (1 means "not at all" and 4 means "completely").The scores obtained from the scale vary between 20 and 80 and there are direct (straight) and reversed expressions in the scale.	Up to 3 Months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Breast Milk Quantity Monitoring Form	It is a form consisting of 3 parts developed by the researcher to record information about milking date, milking time and milk amount.	Up to 3 Months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Mersin University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Hill PD, Aldag JC, Chatterton RT. Effects of pumping style on milk production in mothers of non-nursing preterm infants. J Hum Lact. 1999 Sep;15(3):209-16. doi: 10.1177/089033449901500310.
• Kent JC, Geddes DT, Hepworth AR, Hartmann PE. Effect of warm breastshields on breast milk pumping. J Hum Lact. 2011 Nov;27(4):331-8. doi: 10.1177/0890334411418628.

Helpful Links

• World Health Organization Report of the Expert Consultation on the Optimal Duration of Exclusive Breastfeeding. Geneva, World Health Organization 2001,
• Gartner LM, Morton J, Lawrence RA, Naylor AJ, O'Hare D, Schanler RJ et al. American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding. Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics 2005; 115: 496-506
• American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) (2007). Breastfeeding (policy statement). In. Appendix 2: Additional Breastfeeding Considerations 2010; 13-14
• World Health Organization. The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth, 2012; 1-126

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 2, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 10, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): June 15, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 8, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 29, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): December 1, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 11, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 6, 2025
• Last Verified: May 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Anxiety; Breastfeeding; Premature; Breast milk; Virtual reality glasses
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Anxiety Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: Mersin Üniversitesi

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No