El‐Torkey 1992.

Methods	Random allocation; random permutated blocks; opaque sealed envelopes kept in the antenatal clinic.
Participants	Pregnant women with prolonged pregnancy, preferring induction of labour instead of biophysical assessment of the fetus. Deadline date for labour induction given after randomisation.
Interventions	Sweeping of the membranes performed by the principal investigator or no vaginal examination.
Outcomes	Spontaneous labour; cervix > 4 cm at first examination after admission to hospital in labour; maternal infection and use of antibiotics; analgesia during labour; mode of delivery; Apgar score < 6 at 1 minute and 5 minutes; neonatal infection; perinatal death.
Notes	Recruitment terminated before completed sample size. Multiple assessments of the statistical significance of main outcome, probably.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment?	Low risk	A ‐ Adequate