UC Santa Cruz Assistive Technology Lab Delivers Serious Perinatal Games
From: CITRIS Newsletter - 08/29/2011
By: Gordy Slack 

University of California, Santa Cruz graduate student Alexandra Holloway and
her colleagues have created several games that help expectant mothers and
their partners prepare for childbirth and infant care. In one game, users
assist a pregnant virtual woman, Amy, who has just begun her first stage of
labor. The player must help Amy maintain her energy and remain cognitively
and physically strong. The partner must monitor the mother's needs and
respond appropriately or the doctor will be called to perform a Caesarean
section. In testing, the game was played by 50 participants who took a test
about child birth before and after playing it. The study found that the
participants had a significant test score improvement after playing the game.
Another game, which is played over a period of days or weeks, involves a
simulated pregnancy that has just entered its third trimester. The player
must respond to the mother's water breaking, her needs, and the suggestions
given by the nurse, midwife, or doctor. A third game is designed to help
expecting parents learn the difficulties some newborns can have latching on
for breastfeeding. 

Read the entire article at:
http://citris-uc.org:80/news/birthing_games2011

Links:
Alexandra Holloway
http://users.soe.ucsc.edu/~fire/

Assistive Technology Lab
http://atlab.soe.ucsc.edu/

Prepared Partner
http://users.soe.ucsc.edu/~fire/pp/