Inclusion criteria:
Nulliparous pregnant women with a singleton, cephalic, term pregnancy (37–42 weeks of gestation).Singleton pregnancy.Intention to undergo vaginal delivery.Ability to understand the study procedures, pain assessment scale, and questionnaire content, and to complete the questionnaires.Voluntary participation in the study and provision of written informed consent.Enrollment during the active phase of the first stage of labor (cervical dilatation >6 cm).Moderate or greater labor pain according to the pain intensity assessment tool.No chronic medical conditions or obstetric complications that could affect labor (e.g., hypertension, gestational diabetes, etc.).No history of psychiatric disorders.Pregnancy not achieved through assisted reproductive technologies (ART).No previous experience with virtual reality technology.No history of receiving systemic analgesics or sedatives before labor that could influence pain intensity or response to non-pharmacological interventions.Absence of fetal abnormalities, including major chromosomal or structural anomalies, fetal growth restriction, amniotic fluid disorders, and significant placental abnormalities.
Exclusion criteria:
Conversion of vaginal delivery to cesarean section at any stage of labor due to obstetric or emergency indications.Occurrence of any acute and unforeseen maternal or fetal complication (e.g., fetal distress, severe hemorrhage, or sudden fetal heart rate abnormalities) that makes continuation of the intervention or data collection impossible, even if cesarean section is not performed.