The effects of haptonomy and virtual reality, anxiety, prenatal attachment and acceptance of pregnancy in unplanned pregnancy.
Ayşe Nur Yilmaz, Yeşim Aksoy Derya
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In 30 seconds
This randomised controlled study assessed haptonomy and virtual reality for pregnancy-related anxiety, prenatal attachment and pregnancy acceptance among 217 women with unplanned pregnancies attending a public hospital in eastern Turkey. Participants received haptonomy, virtual reality or control; the intervention groups had four sessions between 24 and 32 gestational weeks. Compared with control, both intervention groups had lower pregnancy-related anxiety and higher pregnancy acceptance and prenatal attachment (p < .001 for each reported comparison). Prenatal attachment was also higher with haptonomy than with virtual reality (p < .001).
Key findings
- Pregnancy-related anxiety was lower in both intervention groups than in the control group (p < .001).
- Pregnancy acceptance was higher in both intervention groups than in the control group (p < .001).
- Prenatal attachment was higher with haptonomy and virtual reality than with control (p < .001), and higher with haptonomy than virtual reality (p < .001).
Why it matters
Unplanned pregnancy may be accompanied by anxiety and challenges in accepting the pregnancy and forming prenatal attachment. In this trial, two approaches involving imagining the baby were associated with improvements in these outcomes compared with control, with haptonomy showing a greater effect on attachment than virtual reality. These findings add evidence about supportive interventions during pregnancy.
What to keep in mind
The abstract does not report effect sizes, confidence intervals or follow-up beyond the intervention period, limiting assessment of the magnitude and persistence of the reported differences.