BACKGROUND: The management of women with premature cervical dilatation and exposed unruptured fetal membranes remains uncertain and controversial. Treatment options may include expectant management or emergency cervical cerclage (ECC). Little is known regarding the effectiveness of individual interventions, or additional therapies. This systematic review aims to summarise all existing evidence to improve understanding of the treatment options and pregnancy outcomes for women presenting with premature cervical dilatation.
METHODS: Databases were searched using a prospective protocol (CRD42021286275). Studies were eligible for inclusion across five distinct comparison groups if they included women with premature cervical dilatation and reported clinical outcomes. Primary outcome was pregnancy loss (miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death and termination of pregnancy). Planned subgroups included singletons and twins, and low-cervical or high-cervical suture. Pairwise random effects meta-analysis calculated in RevMan5.4, single arm random effects proportional meta-analysis calculated using RevMan and R studio. Risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and Joanna Briggs Institute checklists.
RESULTS: 6781 abstracts were screened, and 177 (four randomised controlled trials) studies included in the five analysis groups. Women receiving ECC were significantly less likely to experience pregnancy loss (combined RR 0.48 95 %CI 0.39-0.59 singleton RR 0.48 95 %CI 0.34-0.67 twin only RR 0.39 95 %CI 0.26-0.58) compared to expectant management. Adjuvant amnioreduction with ECC was not found to reduce pregnancy loss (RR 1.12 (95 % CI 0.73-1.72) or any other outcomes compared to ECC without amnioreduction. Women were significantly more likely to experience pregnancy loss (RR3.85 95 %CI 3.13-4.74) after ECC compared to planned cerclage. The probability of intra-operative rupture of membranes at ECC insertion was 3.3 % (95 %CI 1.8-5.1) and the probability of an ECC attempt being abandoned was 2.6 % (95 %CI 1.1-4.6 %).
CONCLUSIONS: ECC appears to reduce the risk of pregnancy loss for both singletons and twins although the overall quality of evidence is poor. It is important that women are counselled regarding the outcomes following cerclage according to indication. Pregnancy complications are common after ECC although the rates of intra-operative complications are lower than may be anticipated. Randomised trials remain imperative for understanding the role of ECC and adjunctive treatments in preventing pregnancy loss in this condition.

OBJECTIVE: This systematic scoping review was conducted to 1) identify and describe labor curves that illustrate cervical dilatation over time; 2) map any evidence for, as well as outcomes used to evaluate the accuracy and effectiveness of the curves; and 3) identify areas in research that require further investigation.
METHODS: A three-step systematic literature search was conducted for publications up to May 2023. We searched the Medline, Maternity & Infant Care, Embase, Cochrane Library, Epistemonikos, CINAHL, Scopus, and African Index Medicus databases for studies describing labor curves, assessing their effectiveness in improving birth outcomes, or assessing their accuracy as screening or diagnostic tools. Original research articles and systematic reviews were included. We excluded studies investigating adverse birth outcomes retrospectively, and those investigating the effect of analgesia-related interventions on labor progression. Study eligibility was assessed, and data were extracted from included studies using a piloted charting form. The findings are presented according to descriptive summaries created for the included studies.
UNASSIGNED: Of 26,073 potentially eligible studies, 108 studies were included. Seventy-three studies described labor curves, of which ten of the thirteen largest were based mainly on the United States Consortium on Safe Labor cohort. Labor curve endpoints were 10 cm cervical dilatation in 69 studies and vaginal birth in 4 studies. Labor curve accuracy was assessed in 26 studies, of which all 15 published after 1986 were from low- and middle-income countries. Recent studies of labor curve accuracy in high-income countries are lacking. The effectiveness of labor curves was assessed in 13 studies, which failed to prove the superiority of any curve. Patient-reported health and well-being is an underrepresented outcome in evaluations of labor curves. The usefulness of labor curves is still a matter of debate, as studies have failed to prove their accuracy or effectiveness.

OBJECTIVE: The current meta-analysis was designed to investigate the impact of Hyoscine N-butyl bromide (HBB) rectal on labour duration and the rate of cervical dilatation by consolidating the available data.
METHODS: The search of Medline through the PubMed interface, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) was performed for original articles concerning the effects of HBB rectal on the duration of labour published prior to 26 June 2023. Search terms were based on Medical Subject Headings without time and language restrictions. They included: Hyoscine, Scopolamine, HBB, Buscopan, Buscolysin, Buscapine, rectal, suppository, childbirth, delivery, active phase, second stage, cervical dilatation, labour, labour, and duration of labour. The Comprehensive Meta-Analysis V3 software was used for all analyses.
RESULTS: Five randomized control trials and 1 non-randomized study involving 1310 women were included in the systematic review. Two studies were excluded from the meta-analysis because of heterogeneous interventions and a lack of mean and SD results. The results determined that HBB rectal administration significantly decreased the duration of the active phase (pooled mean difference -193.893; 95% CI -229.173 to -158.613, P < 0.001; I2 squares = 90.097%) and second stage of labour (pooled mean difference -2.911; 95% CI -5.486 to -0.336, P = 0.027; I2 squares = 90.097%). Also, the cervical dilatation rate in the active phase of labour was 0.981 cm/h higher than in the control group (I2 = 0.0%; P < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis found that HBB rectal administration shortened the active labour phase and second stage and increased the rate of cervix dilatation; consequently, it can be used as a cost-effective intervention for low-risk pregnant women during labour. However, our findings also suggest that more robust clinical trials are required to generate evidence and confirm the use of HBB during labour for clinical practice guidelines.

BACKGROUND: Clinical and experimental studies on virtual reality have shown that this easy-to-use and non-invasive method is a safe and effective strategy during normal labor.
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyze the effects of virtual reality (VR) interventions on some of the parameters of normal labor.
METHODS: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
METHODS: Higher Education Council National Thesis Center, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct databases were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials that administered VR to the intervention group but not to the control group and were published through January 2022. RevMan software was used to analyze the meta-analysis data. Pain, anxiety, satisfaction, and the duration of the first and second stages of labor were assessed as outcomes of normal labor.
RESULTS: Seven randomized controlled trials, with a total of 756 women in total, met the inclusion criteria. Virtual reality interventions significantly reduced pain scores when cervical dilatation was ≤4 cm (MD = -0.43, 95% expansion here (CI [-0.65, -0.21], p < .001) and ≥9 cm (SMD = -1.91, 95% CI [-2.56, -1.26], p < .001). Anxiety scores significantly decreased (SMD = -1.08, 95% CI [-1.75, 0.41], p < .001), and childbirth satisfaction significantly increased (MD = 11.24, 95% CI [2.17, 20.30], p < .001) in the VR intervention groups. Finally, when compared to the control groups, the duration of the first stage of labor (SMD = -0.53, 95% CI [-0.83, -0.22], p < .01) and the second stage of labor (MD = -0.39, 95% CI [-0.76, -0.02], p = .001) were significantly decreased in the VR intervention groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Virtual reality interventions are effective methods to reduce pain, anxiety, and the duration of the first and second stages of labor and to increase satisfaction with normal labor.

BACKGROUND: There is a growing body of evidence that the presence and length of the purple line could represent a non-invasive method of estimating and determining labour progress.
OBJECTIVE: The primary outcome was to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis on the association between the purple line length and cervical dilatation in active labour. The secondary outcome was to determine the association between the purple line length and the fetal head descent, and to calculate the pooled mean length of the purple line at a cervical dilatation of 3-4 cm and at a cervical dilatation of 9-10 cm.
METHODS: We searched the Medline, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Clinical Trials.gov and Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth\'s Trials Register databases from inception till March 25, 2023.
METHODS: We included observational studies of pregnant women in active first stage of labour who had their labour progress assessed with the use of regular vaginal examinations and who had the occurrence recorded and length of the purple line measured at the same time.
METHODS: Two reviewers independently evaluated study eligibility. We used the random effects and fixed effects model for meta-analysis.
RESULTS: There were six eligible studies included in the systematic review that reported on 982 women in total with the purple line appearing in 760 (77.3%) of cases. We found a moderate positive pooled correlation between the purple line length with cervical dilatation (r = +0.64; 95%CI: 0.41-0.87) and fetal head descent (r = +0.50; 95%CI: 0.32-0.68). For women either in spontaneous or induced labour, the pooled mean length of the purple line was more than 9.4 cm when the cervical dilatation was 9-10 cm, whereas it was more than 7.3 cm when the cervical dilatation was 3-4 cm.
CONCLUSIONS: The purple line is a non-invasive method that may potentially be used as an adjunct in labour progress assessment.

The optimal approach to prevent preterm birth (PTB) in twins has not been fully established yet. Recent evidence suggests that placement of cervical cerclage in twin pregnancies with short cervical length at ultrasound or cervical dilatation at physical examination might be associated with a reduced risk of PTB. However, such evidence is based mainly on small studies thus questioning the robustness of these findings. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the role of cervical cerclage in preventing PTB and adverse maternal or perinatal outcomes in twin pregnancies.
Key databases searched and date of last search: MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL were searched electronically on 20 April 2023. Eligibility criteria: Inclusion criteria were observational studies assessing the risk of PTB among twin pregnancies undergoing cerclage versus no cerclage and randomized trials in which twin pregnancies were allocated to cerclage for the prevention of PTB or to a control group (e.g., placebo or treatment as usual). The primary outcome was PTB <34 weeks of gestation. The secondary outcomes were PTB <37, 32, 28, 24 weeks of gestation, gestational age at birth, the interval between diagnosis and birth, preterm prelabor rupture of the membranes (pPROM), chorioamnionitis, perinatal loss, and perinatal morbidity. Subgroup analyses according to the indication for cerclage (short cervical length or cervical dilatation) were also performed. Risk of bias assessment: The risk of bias of the included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was assessed using the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials, while that of the observational studies using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS). Statistical analysis: Summary risk ratios (RRs) of the likelihood of detecting each categorical outcome in exposed versus unexposed women, and (b) summary mean differences (MDs) between exposed and unexposed women (for each continuous outcome), with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed using head-to-head meta-analyses. Synthesis of the results: Eighteen studies (1,465 twin pregnancies) were included. Placement of cervical cerclage in women with a twin pregnancy with a short cervix at ultrasound or cervical dilatation at physical examination was associated with a reduced risk of PTB <34 weeks of gestation (RR: 0.73, 95% CI [0.59, 0.91], p = 0.005 corresponding to a 16% difference in the absolute risk, AR), <32 (RR: 0.69, 95% CI [0.57, 0.84], p < 0.001; AR: 16.92%), <28 (RR: 0.54, 95% [CI 0.43, 0.67], 0.001; AR: 18.29%), and <24 (RR: 0.48, 95% CI [0.23, 0.97], p = 0.04; AR: 15.57%) weeks of gestation and a prolonged gestational age at birth (MD: 2.32 weeks, 95% [CI 0.99, 3.66], p < 0.001). Cerclage in twin pregnancy with short cervical length or cervical dilatation was also associated with a reduced risk of perinatal loss (RR: 0.38, 95% CI [0.25, 0.60], p < 0.001; AR: 19.62%) and composite adverse outcome (RR: 0.69, 95% CI [0.53, 0.90], p = 0.007; AR: 11.75%). Cervical cerclage was associated with a reduced risk of PTB <34 weeks both in women with cervical length <15 mm (RR: 0.74, 95% CI [0.58, 0.95], p = 0.02; AR: 29.17%) and in those with cervical dilatation (RR: 0.68, 95% CI [0.57, 0.80], p < 0.001; AR: 35.02%). The association between cerclage and prevention of PTB and adverse perinatal outcomes was exclusively due to the inclusion of observational studies. The quality of retrieved evidence at GRADE assessment was low.
Emergency cerclage for cervical dilation or short cervical length <15 mm may be potentially associated with a reduction in PTB and improved perinatal outcomes. However, these findings are mainly based upon observational studies and require confirmation in large and adequately powered RCTs.

The past 20 years witnessed an invigoration of research on labor progression and a change of thinking regarding normal labor. New evidence is emerging, and more advanced statistical methods are applied to labor progression analyses. Given the wide variations in the onset of active labor and the pattern of labor progression, there is an emerging consensus that the definition of abnormal labor may not be related to an idealized or average labor curve. Alternative approaches to guide labor management have been proposed; for example, using an upper limit of a distribution of labor duration to define abnormally slow labor. Nonetheless, the methods of labor assessment are still primitive and subject to error; more objective measures and more advanced instruments are needed to identify the onset of active labor, monitor labor progression, and define when labor duration is associated with maternal/child risk. Cervical dilation alone may be insufficient to define active labor, and incorporating more physical and biochemical measures may improve accuracy of diagnosing active labor onset and progression. Because the association between duration of labor and perinatal outcomes is rather complex and influenced by various underlying and iatrogenic conditions, future research must carefully explore how to integrate statistical cut-points with clinical outcomes to reach a practical definition of labor abnormalities. Finally, research regarding the complex labor process may benefit from new approaches, such as machine learning technologies and artificial intelligence to improve the predictability of successful vaginal delivery with normal perinatal outcomes.

In this scoping review, contemporary concepts and definitions of phenomena during normal labor and birth, wherein the process appears to plateau (slow, stall, or pause) but remains within physiological limits, will be mapped.
During labor and birth, it is frequently perceived as pathological if contractions, cervical dilation, or fetal descent plateau. However, there is evidence to suggest that some plateaus during labor may be physiological, and a variety of concepts and terms refer to this phenomenon. Where a physiological plateau is perceived as pathological arrest, this may contribute to undue interventions, such as augmentation of labor. Therefore, it is important to advance understanding of physiological labor patterns, including potentially physiological labor plateaus.
Publications mentioning any plateaus of the processes of normal human labor and birth will be considered. This may also include phenomena where labor is perceived to \"reverse,\" for example, a closing cervix or a rise of the presenting fetal part. Publications where plateaus are defined as pathological will be excluded.
All types of evidence, published and unpublished, will be considered. The search strategy will be applied to the databases MEDLINE, Embase, MIDIRS, Emcare, CINAHL, and Scopus, and will be limited to the past 30 years. Gray literature will be searched via Open Grey, reference list screening, and contacting authors. Data extraction will comprise information on concept boundaries, terminology, precedents, consequences, concept origin, and types of evidence that report this phenomenon. Results will be presented in tabular, diagrammatical, and narrative manner.

The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate fetal and maternal pregnancy outcomes of elite athletes who had participated in competitive sport immediately before conception.
Online databases were searched up to March 24, 2020. Studies of any design and language were eligible if they contained information on the relevant population (pregnant women), exposure (engaged in elite sport immediately before pregnancy), and outcomes (birth weight, low birth weight, macrosomia, preterm birth, fetal heart rate and pulse index, cesarean sections, instrumental deliveries, episiotomies, duration of labor, perineal tears, pregnancy-induced low back pain, pelvic girdle pain, urinary incontinence, miscarriages, prenatal weight gain, inadequate/excess prenatal weight gain, maternal depression or anxiety).
Eleven unique studies (n = 2256 women) were included. We identified \"low\" certainty evidence demonstrating lower rates of low back pain in elite athletes compared with active/sedentary controls (n = 248; odds ratio, 0.38; 95% confidence interval, 0.20-0.73; I2 = 0%) and \"very low\" certainty evidence indicating an increased odds of excessive prenatal weight gain in elite athletes versus active/sedentary controls (n = 1763; odds ratio, 2.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.26-4.85; I2 = 0%). Low certainty evidence from two studies (n = 7) indicated three episodes of fetal bradycardia after high-intensity exercise that resolved within 10 min of cessation of activity. No studies reported inadequate gestational weight gain or maternal depression or anxiety. There were no differences between elite athletes and controls for all other outcomes.
There is \"low\" certainty of evidence that elite athletes have reduced odds of experiencing pregnancy-related low back pain and \"very low\"certainty of evidence that elite athletes have increased the odds of excessive weight gain compared with active/sedentary controls. More research is needed to provide strong evidence of how elite competitive sport before pregnancy affects maternal and fetal outcomes.PROSPERO Registration: CRD42020167382.

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to critically evaluate and summarise all available evidence derived from randomised clinical trials (RCTs) regarding aromatherapy\'s effects on labour pain and anxiety relief. Literature search was performed in MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane library, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and Scopus since their respective inception to January 2019. Additionally, Google Scholar was also searched to explore citations of eligible final studies which were subsequently included in the systematic review. The search strategy used was: (pregnancy or pregnant or prenatal or antenatal or perinatal or maternal) AND (aromatherapy or essential oils or aroma therapy). Per inclusion and exclusion criteria established by the current study, nine RCTs were included in the systematic review. Results from the current study suggested that aromatherapy significantly decreased pain and anxiety in the first stage of labour.IMPACT STATEMENTWhat is already known on this subject? Several studies have shown aromatherapy\'s effectiveness in relieving pain and anxiety for hospitalised patients and on relieving nausea and vomiting for women during pregnancy. Some results have further indicated that aromatherapy was effective in facilitating episiotomy healing and in reducing pain, fatigue and distress. Aromatherapy was also found to play a role in improving maternal moods; reducing post-caesarean pain; and preventing or mitigating stress, anxiety and depression after childbirth. Though most non-pharmaceutical pain management options were considered non-invasive and presumably safe for mothers and their foetuses, their exact efficacies remained unclear due to a lack of high quality evidence.What the results of this study add? This systematic review and meta-analysis summarises all evidence derived from RCTs wherein aromatherapy was performed as a supportive analgesic method during labour. Results of this meta-analysis identified more credible evidence validating that aromatherapy could significantly decrease labour pain both in early active and late active phases.What the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Availability of credible evidence supporting aromatherapy\'s effectiveness on reducing physiological and psychological stress during pregnancy and childbirth would be useful, both theoretically and practically, for all stakeholders concerned, such as pregnant women, medicine and midwifery students, midwives, nurses, gynaecologists and health policymakers.