Virtual Reality Experience in First Trimester D&C

Virtual reality (VR) has been used in health care settings to decrease anxiety and pain. This project is a feasibility study to evaluate whether virtual reality can be used in the setting of a first trimester pregnancy termination by D\&C and whether the use of virtual reality (VR) headsets can help decrease anxiety for patients during this procedure.

The investigators will assess the practicality and qualitative experience of women using VR during first trimester surgical abortion under local anesthesia. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted to understand the patient's experience of using VR. Surveys evaluating anxiety will be administered to women before and after surgical abortion. Investigators plan to enroll 30 patients in order to obtain an effect size for future studies. A group of control patients will be enrolled; these patients will receive standard care and will be compared to the anxiety scores of the group receiving VR. The mean and standard deviation of anxiety scores for each group will be used to calculate power for future studies.