Table 7.

Benefits and Risks of Complementary Therapy compared to standard control group.

Use of complementary therapy	Nulliparous (All labourers, spontaneous & induced)	Multiparous (All labourers, spontaneous & induced)
Benefits	20% less likely to require epidural
	Shorter labour (1.6 h)
	36% less likely to require oxytocin augmentation for labour
	Reduced average blood loss at delivery (regardless of mode of delivery)
Risks		5 times more likely to have significant perineal trauma
No Difference	IOL, mode of delivery, major PPH, shoulder dystocia, perineal trauma and neonatal admission rates	No clear advantage at reducing chances of induction/oxytocin induction, epidural rates, length of labour, need for emergency caesarean section nor blood loss at delivery, shoulder dystocia and neonatal admission rates
Use of complementary therapy	Nulliparous
	Spontaneous labours	Induced labours
Benefits	32% less likely to require epidural	57% less likely to need oxytocin augmentation for labour
	Shorter labour (1.7hours)
	27% less likely to require oxytocin augmentation for labour
	30% more likely to achieve a vaginal delivery without intervention
Risks	-	24% less likely to achieve a vaginal delivery without intervention
		80% more likely to have an emergency caesarean section
No Difference	Gestational age at delivery, instrumental delivery or EMCS, blood loss, major PPH, neonatal birth weight, perineal trauma, shoulder dystocia and neonatal admission rates	Epidural rate, length of labour, use of oxytocin for IOL, Gestational age at delivery, instrumental delivery, blood loss, major PPH, neonatal birth weight, perineal trauma, shoulder dystocia and neonatal admission rates
Use of complementary therapy	Multiparous
	Spontaneous labours	Induced labours
Benefits	No apparent benefits	No apparent benefits
Risks		11 times more likely to have an emergency caesarean section
No Difference	No clear advantage on reducing epidural rates, length of labour, need for oxytocin augmentation. Gestational age at delivery, mode of delivery, blood loss, major PPH, neonatal birth weight, perineal trauma, shoulder dystocia and neonatal admission rates	No clear advantage on reducing need for oxytocin augmentation, epidural rates, length of labour and instrumental delivery Gestational age at delivery, blood loss, major PPH, neonatal birth weight, perineal trauma, shoulder dystocia and neonatal admission rates