SynthesisFrontiers in medicine2026
Digital technology-assisted labor support in delivery rooms on maternal pain and anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
Background: Labor pain and anxiety are important factors affecting maternal childbirth experience. Digital technology-assisted labor support, such as virtual reality (VR) analgesia and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted fetal heart rate monitoring interpretation, has gained increasing attention as non-pharmacological interventions in recent years, but quantitative synthesis of randomized controlled trial evidence remains limited. We aimed to systematically evaluate the effects of digital technology-assisted labor support in delivery rooms on maternal pain and anxiety. Methods: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science were systematically searched from inception to March 2026. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing digital technology-assisted labor support (VR or AI-assisted systems) with routine care on maternal outcomes were included. Two reviewers independently performed study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment using the Cochrane ROB2.0 tool. Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.4 software, calculating standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Six RCTs involving 492 parturients were included. Meta-analysis of four studies (362 parturients) showed that digital technology-assisted labor support significantly reduced maternal pain intensity (SMD = -1.49, 95% CI: -2.55 to -0.42, Conclusion: Current evidence suggests that digital technology-assisted labor support in delivery rooms, particularly immersive virtual reality interventions, can significantly reduce maternal pain intensity and anxiety levels. Due to the limited number of included studies and high heterogeneity, these findings should be interpreted with caution, and more high-quality, large-sample RCTs are needed for further validation. Systematic review registration: Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) (Registration number: CRD420261336637).
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