Virtual Reality-enhanced Psychotherapy for Perinatal Depression
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Stanford University
- Where
- Palo Alto, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Status
- Enrolling by invitation
- People taking part
- 44 people, planned
- Started
- 31 Mar 2026
- Expected to end
- Jan 2028
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets no study treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Virtual reality behavioral activation
- Record updated
- 6 April 2026
Who can take part
- Age
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- Women only
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
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Who can take part
- Patients admitted to Stanford Children's Hospital antepartum unit for obstetric indications that are likely to warrant >3 weeks of hospitalization (such as vasa previa, preterm premature rupture of membranes, severe preeclampsia)
- Able to read and write in English or Spanish
- Baseline EPDS score on admission >=10 on routine screening
- Admitted >24 hours prior to enrollment
Who cannot take part
- Patients with serious neuropsychiatric illness (bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, epilepsy, or suicidal ideation)
- Known delivery planned within the next 3 weeks
Where in United States
- Lucile Packard Children's HospitalPalo Alto, United StatesEnrolling by invitation
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Perinatal depression is a growing public health crisis in the United States, affecting one in five individuals during pregnancy or postpartum. Mental health conditions contribute to 23% of maternal deaths, underscoring the urgent need for innovative interventions. Obstetric patients who experience complications requiring prolonged hospitalization are particularly vulnerable to mental health deterioration. Virtual reality (VR) has shown promise for expanding access, reducing barriers, and enhancing first-line depression treatment when paired with evidence-based psychotherapies such as behavioral activation (BA). However, traditional BA is not feasible for inpatients, as their hospitalization prevents participation in conventional in-person, mood-boosting activities; VR-enhanced BA (VR-BA) presents a novel opportunity to address this gap.
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The goal of the study is to compare a 3-week VR-BA protocol to standard therapy (social work consultation) for hospitalized pregnant individuals with depressive symptoms. The objectives are to assess 1) whether VR-BA is acceptable, tolerable, and feasible in this population and 2) whether it leads to greater reductions in depressive symptoms compared to standard therapy.
The 2 groups in the trial
- Standard of careNo study treatment, for comparison
Participants will receive standard therapy during their antepartum hospitalization, which will include consultations with social workers and psychiatry physicians (if recommended by the social worker).
- Virtual-Reality Behavioral ActivationTreatment being tested
Participants will receive the 3-week VR-BA psychotherapy. The VR-BA consists of 4 self-guided VR sessions per week and a weekly telemedicine guided BA session with a trained study team member via ZOOM (and Spanish interpreter, if required) lasting 30-50 minutes. This will be a total of 3 telemedicine-guided BA sessions and 12 self-guided VR sessions over the course of the study.
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Virtual Reality-enhanced Psychotherapy as a Mental Health Intervention During Antepartum Hospitalization: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
- Record updated
- 6 April 2026