It was so good to see a paper in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology this month calling for better definitions of postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). Borovac-Pinheiro et al (2018) write that, “The current definition of [postpartum haemorrhage] is inadequate…
Category: Research Updates
Review shows that “evidence is lacking” to induce labour before 42 weeks of pregnancy
A review of trials comparing induction of labour with expectant management has concluded that evidence is lacking for the recommendation to induce labour at 41 weeks instead of 42 weeks for the improvement of perinatal outcome.
Bearing witness: disrespectful maternity care
Sara Wickham writes about an important study published in Birth which further illustrates the disrespectful care and abuse that some women experience during childbirth.
Objectivity, religion and belief…
I was really interested to see a feature in a recent edition of the British Medical Journal entitled “Why religious belief should be declared as a competing interest”, in which Richard Smith and Jane Blazeby suggested that people’s faith can…
More evidence on how to keep birth normal
Large Carbetocin trial published
The results of a large trial on Carbetocin have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Asking different questions…
An important paper has been published in Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care this month, in which expert maternity care researchers from around the world have come together to call for a new approach to research. In ‘Asking different questions: A…
Further confirmation of home birth safety
A systematic review and meta-analysis has further confirmed the safety of home birth for healthy women, even if they are having their first baby. After comparing data from births planned at home birth, in birth centres and in hospital, researchers…
Expert midwives and perineal care during birth
A study published in Women and Birth has offered further insight into the knowledge and skills used by expert midwives in keeping women’s perineums intact during birth. Led by Cecily Begley, the researchers interviewed midwives in New Zealand and Ireland…
New systematic review on chlorhexidine
It feels rather fitting to have spotted this new systematic review and meta-analysis in the same week that we are running our Group B Strep Explored online course! Freely availably in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, the paper by Bell et…