Use of the peanut ball during labour: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Parivash Ahmadpour, Sakineh Mohammad-Alizadeh-Charandabi, Rana Doosti and 1 others
PMID 33773071WHAT IT FOUND
Peanut ball use in labour did not significantly reduce caesarean section or shorten the first stage.
It is inexpensive and non-invasive, but this evidence is too uncertain to change care.
Key findings
01Across 645 participants, peanut ball use did not significantly reduce caesarean section.
02Across 996 participants, peanut ball use did not significantly shorten the first stage of labour.
03Second-stage labour was examined in only two studies, with opposite findings.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only six trials were included, and the caesarean-section analysis included 645 participants while the first-stage analysis included 996 participants. Blinding of participants, staff, and outcome assessors was judged high risk in all studies. The first-stage result was very uncertain because the studies had high heterogeneity and the confidence interval was -64.91 to 33.62 minutes. Second-stage labour was reported in only two studies, with opposite findings. One included study was a quasi-RCT with high selection bias; excluding it did not change the first-stage result. Women with multiple pregnancies were excluded, and included women were low-risk without obstetric complications.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 0.82 caesarean rate ratio or the 15.64-minute first-stage difference as proof that peanut ball works. Both primary outcomes were not statistically significant, and the authors called for further studies before clinical recommendation.