Membrane sweeping at term to promote spontaneous labour and reduce the likelihood of a formal induction of labour for postmaturity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of membrane sweeping in promoting spontaneous labour and reducing a formal induction of labour for postmaturity. Based on articles published between 2005 and 2016, 12 electronic databases were searched. Relative risk (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were used as pooled statistics. A total of seven studies consisting of 2252 participants were selected for the review and meta-analysis. The results revealed that membrane sweeping is advantageous in promoting spontaneous labour (RR = 1.205, 95% CI: 1.133–1.282, p = <.001), and reducing the formal induction of labour for postmaturity (RR = 0.523, 95% CI: 0.409–0.669, p = <.001). The studies reported several varying outcomes for both maternal and foetal morbidities; meta-analyses were performed where possible on each of these and found there to be no statistically significant differences in outcome between the intervention and control groups.