Avsiyovski, H.Haith-Cooper, MelanieScally, Andy J.2018-10-242018-10-242019Avdiyovski H, Haith-Cooper M and Scally A (2019) 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. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 39(1): 54-62.http://hdl.handle.net/10454/16626YesThe 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.en© 2018 Taylor & Francis. This is an Author's Original Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology on 04 Oct 2018 available online at http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01443615.2018.1467388.Term pregnancyPost-dates pregnancyPostmaturityMembrane sweepingMembrane strippingStretch and sweepArticlehttps://doi.org/10.1080/01443615.2018.1467388Unspecified