Sun and colleagues studied the experiences of pregnant people in green spaces. They had “pregnant women between 8 and 14 weeks’ gestational age . . . view one of three, 5-min, VR [virtual reality] videos of an urban scene with different green space levels (i.e., non-green, moderate, and high) after a laboratory stressor, the Trier Social Stress Test. . . . We found that visual exposure to a green space environment in VR was associated with both physiological and affective [mood] stress reduction among pregnant women, including lower systolic blood pressure . . . reduced salivary alpha-amylase concentration . . . improved overall positive affect . . . and decreased negative affect of anxiety . . . compared to non-green space environment. Exposure to high green space environment in park-like setting had the strongest impacts on stress recovery.”
Yi Sun, Fu Li, Tao He, Yaohan Meng, Jie Yin, Ilona Yim, Liyan Xu, and Jun Wu. 2023. “Physiological and Affective Responses to Green Space Virtual Reality Among Pregnant Women.” Environmental Research, vol. 216, 114499, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114499