HoloLens used for midwives training in Australia

The University of Newcastle in Australia has developed a midwife training program based on virtual and augmented reality that offers nurse trainees visual insight into the internal stages of childbearing and its effect on the human body.

Called Road to Birth, it takes users on a journey through pregnancy, depicting a life-size female figure in front of them, whose gestation can be explored and observed, and also includes crucial birth considerations like the baby’s orientation and placental positioning.

Project lead and Lecturer in Midwifery, Mr Donovan Jones, acknowledged the delivery room could often be a dangerous place.

“First year midwifery students come into the program and within the first semester are going out and witnessing their first birth. They’re exposed to situations that have the potential to be confronting.

“Not only will this application introduce them to the realism of anatomy, but it bridges the gap between classroom and delivery suite to ensure cognitive resilience, which is going to make them perform better under pressure.”

Available for Android, iOS and PC, UON has implemented Road to Birth via HTC Vive and Microsoft HoloLens headsets, as well as mobile app.

“With Road to Birth, the educator can pop on their HoloLens and project the imagery in front of the class as they walk through the simulation. Our students can then either immerse themselves fully with the VR headset or take the application home on their device to learn in their own time, at their own pace.

“We know that individualised learning is incredibly effective and everybody learns differently, so Road to Birth is a game changer in that it’s giving our students a new way and the time to visualise and fully understand the significant impact these common occurrences in the delivery room can have,” Mr Jones stressed.

See more about the application in their video demo below:

This ground-breaking use of #VR technology will give #health practitioners and expectant parents a world-first window into the internal stages of pregnancy. #worldneedsnew

Read more: https://t.co/96uPpm3pTT pic.twitter.com/A8lSiT7V0w

— UONnews (@Uni_Newcastle) March 1, 2018

The application is on trial in early 2018 with midwifery students in Newcastle and Port Macquarie.

Road to Birth is not the first time Hololens has been used in midwife training, with CAE LucinaAR also offering a full training program.