A virtual reality maternity unit, which allows student midwives to practise their communication and clinical skills, has won a prestigious national award from the Royal College of Midwives.
The maternity unit built on The University of Nottingham’s ‘island’ in Second Life — an online 3D virtual world — has been developed by Jenny Bailey, a midwife teacher in the University’s Academic Division of Midwifery, as a teaching tool for her students.
The work has been done in collaboration with colleagues Colleen McCants and Fay Cross in the University’s Information Services department who helped bring Jenny’s idea to virtual life and with support from Dr Bob Hallawell in the Division of Nursing.
The RCM awarded the project the Philips Avent Award for Innovation in Midwifery at the annual awards ceremony of the College in London. The judges were impressed with the unit’s delivery of a range of scenarios and environments which student midwives can access, some of which they may not commonly encounter during real-life clinical practice in training. Facilities in the unit include all the equipment available in the modern labour suite including birthing pools, gym balls and inhalation analgesia (gas and air).
Jenny Bailey, midwife teacher in the Academic Division of Midwifery, said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be a winner, especially considering the excellent calibre of the other candidates. Hopefully, the virtual maternity project will continue to go from strength to strength.”
The University of Nottingham Maternity Unit in Second Life is designed to represent a range of similarities found within birthing units, with a birthing room that can be set up according to the type of birth that a mother has requested.
The computer simulation allows students to use avatars to role play through a range of scenarios, many of which they may not otherwise encounter during real-life clinical practice. With the midwife teacher taking on the part of the expectant mother, students can be put through their paces to assess how they react to every aspect of the experience, such as the clinical decisions they make or how well they communicate.
Jenny added: “Part of a midwife’s role is to be able to provide unbiased information to women so they can make informed choices for their journey through pregnancy and childbirth, and that means sometimes students need to alter or adapt their language depending on the situation to get the information across.
“Childbirth is a life-changing experience and some women can feel very vulnerable when they are in hospital so much so that it can affect their labour. Students need to learn very quickly how to put women at ease and gain their trust. Using avatars removes some of the embarrassment which can be experienced in real role play and is intended to enhance clinical practice rather than replace it.”
The Second Life simulation is so realistic that students can virtually practise clinical skills such as administering pain relief, checking the mother’s contractions and taking her pulse and blood pressure, with the results of tests being displayed in the midwife’s control panel on screen. They can also offer other support and reassurance, even sitting beside the mother on the floor and rubbing her back.
The tutor, as the expectant mother, plays a leading role in the labour including deciding the results of various tests and when the baby or placenta is delivered.
After the virtual birth, the students learn the procedures used during the first minutes and hour of a baby’s life to carry out the Apgar score to assess baby’s wellbeing or to record the weight or to establish feeding.
Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives, Cathy Warwick, said: “This project demonstrates that there is wonderful and ground-breaking work being done by midwives and I congratulate Jenny on her award. Midwifery practice is always moving forward and innovating. This shows that if we give midwives the resources and freedom to do this, the result is better services for women, babies and their families.”
See the video: http://youtu.be/BjBhcgclOeM.