Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies; meta-analysis of water immersion for labour and birth
| Author | Study type | Setting | Immersion exposure | Sample Size |
Interventions and outcomes reported |
| Bailey et al30 | RO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 2422 | 1, 5, 10, 11, 13, 17 |
| Barry et al31 | PO | Obstetric | Both | 380 | 8, 10, 11, 13, 17, 23 |
| Benfield et al32 | Pre-Post | Obstetric | Labour | 11 | 4, 7 |
| Bovbjerg et al33 | RO | Midwifery | Waterbirth | 18 355 | 10, 11, 12, 17, 21 |
| Cluett et al34 | RCT | Obstetric | Labour | 99 | 2, 6, 7, 8, 15, 16 |
| da Silva et al35 | RCT | Obstetric | Labour | 108 | 2, 4, 7, 10, 12, 17 |
| Eckert et al36 | RCT | Obstetric | Labour | 274 | 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18 |
| Geisbuehler et al38 | PO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 5584 | 12, 20 |
| Geissbuehler et al39 | PO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 9518 | 5, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17 |
| Geissbühler and Eberhard37 | PO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 7508 | 6, 16 |
| Haslinger et al40 | RO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 7832 | 11, 12 |
| Henderson et al41 | PO | Obstetric | Both | 3078 | 2, 3, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 18 |
| Hodgson et al42 | RO | Mixed | Waterbirth | 25 768 | 4, 11, 17, 18 |
| Jacoby et al43 | RO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 23 036 | 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23 |
| Lathrop et al44 | PO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 198 | 13, 16 |
| Lim et al45 | RO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 236 | 4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19 |
| Liu et al46 | PO | Obstetric | Labour | 108 | 4, 7, 8, 13 |
| Mallen-Perez et al47 | PO | Obstetric | Unclear | 215 | 7 |
| Menakaya et al48 | RO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 438 | 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18 |
| Mollamahmutoglu et al49 | PO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 602 | 1, 7, 10, 12, 13 |
| Neiman et al50 | RO | Obstetric | Both | 230 | 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, 22, 23 |
| Ohlsson et al51 | RCT | Obstetric | Labour | 1237 | 6, 8, 11, 14, 19, 20 |
| Otigbah et al52 - | RO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 602 | 1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 |
| Pagano et al,13 - | RO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 220 | 10, 17 |
| Peacock et al,53 - | RO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 3507 | 17 |
| Preston et al54 - | RO | Midwifery | Waterbirth | 15 734 | 5, 9, 11 |
| Ros55 - | PO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 54 | 17 |
| Sert et al56 - | RCT | Obstetric | Labour | 64 | 17 |
| Snapp et al57 - | RO | Midwifery | Waterbirth | 26 684 | 9, 10, 13, 17, 21, 23 |
| Thoeni et al58 - | RO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 1600 | 10, 11, 12 |
| Torkamani et al59 -- | PO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 100 | 5, 7, 12 |
| Ulfsdottir et al60- | RO | Midwifery | Waterbirth | 612 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 23, 24 |
| Woodward and Kelly61 2004 | RCT | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 80 | 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 17, 24 |
| Zanetti-Dällenbach et al62 2006 | PO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 513 | 2, 3, 6, 9, 12 |
| Zanetti-Dallenbach et al63 2007 | PO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 368 | 4, 5, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17 |
| Ziolkowski et al64 2009 | RO | Obstetric | Waterbirth | 171 | 16, 17 |
Interventions amd Outcomes Key: (1) Labour Induction (2) Amniotomy (3) Augmentation (4) Fetal Monitoring (5) Opioids (6) Epidural (7) Pain (8) Caesarean Delivery (9) Shoulder Dystocia (10) Intact Perineum (11) OASI (12) Episiotomy (13) Postpartum Haemorrhage (14) Manual Removal of Placenta (15) Maternal Infection (16) Maternal Satisfaction (17) 5 min APGAR (18) Newborn Resuscitation (19) Transient Tachypnoea of the Newborn (20) Respiratory Distress of the Newborn (21) Neonatal Death (22) Infection in newborn period (23) Cord Avulsion (24) Breastfeeding Initiation.
No studies provided comparison data for third-stage management.
No studies met the definition used for neonatal intensive care unit admission.
OASI, obstetric anal sphincter injury; PO, prospective observational; RCT, randomised controlled trial; RO, retrospective observational.