| Study | Reason for exclusion |
|---|---|
| Abadi 2018 | The CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Abu Bakar 2015 | CAM was not used for the treatment of post‐caesarean pain. |
| Agah 2007 | CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Ali 2017 | CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Allameh 2013 | Quran reading is not considered a CAM. |
| Amin‐Hanjani 1992 | Cold therapy is not considered a CAM. |
| Beiranvand 2014 | Religion and spirituality are not considered a CAM. |
| Blackburn 2011 | Only the abstract is available. CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Cal 2016 | Hand and foot bathing are not considered as CAM. |
| Chang 2005 | CAM was used in the preoperative and intra‐operative periods to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Chaowalit 2018 | Cold therapy is not considered as CAM. |
| Charoenkwan 2017 | Abdominal binders is not considered as CAM. |
| Chen 2005 | The study was not a randomised trial. Quote: "the study used a quasi‐experimental design and convenience sampling". |
| Citak 2012 | Physiotherapy is not considered as CAM. |
| Fazel 2017 | CAM was not used for the treatment of post‐cesarean pain. |
| Ghana 2017 | Abdominal binders is not considered as CAM. |
| Gillier 2016 | Abdominal binders is not considered as CAM. |
| Gist 2018 | Cold therapy is not considered as CAM. |
| Gursen 2016 | Kinesio taping is not considered as CAM. |
| Gustafson 2018 | Abdominal binders is not considered as CAM. |
| Henkel 2018 | Only the abstract is available. |
| Ho 1996 | CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Hollinger 1986 | This study was retrospective. Quote: "reviewed the medical charts of 72 women retrospectively". |
| Hong 2003 | There is not a valid comparison because there is not a control group without CAM. |
| Houshyar 2015 | There is not a valid comparison because there is not a control group without CAM. |
| Kerai 2011 | There is not a valid comparison because there is not a control group without CAM. |
| Keshavarz 2010 | There is not a valid comparison because there is not a control group without CAM. |
| Khezri 2017 | CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Khoshtarash 2012 | Reflexology was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Krum 2006 | Physical therapy is not considered as CAM. |
| Kuo 2016 | CAM was not used for the treatment of post‐cesarean pain. |
| Kurdi 2018 | CAM was used in the intra‐operative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Kushnir 2012 | CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Li 2012a | CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Li 2012b | CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Mahishale 2014 | An abdominal corset is not considered as CAM. |
| Mohseni 2018 | Amniotic membrane dressing is not considered as CAM. |
| Mokhtari 2010 | Non‐randomised clinical trial. Quote: "A quasi‐experimental time series design and clinical trial was used. Method of sampling was convenience non probability". |
| Mousavi 2017 | CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Myers 2014 | Abdominal binders is not considered as CAM. |
| Norouzi 2013 | Kangaroo care is not considered as CAM. |
| Ohashi 2012 | Only the abstract is available. |
| Rasuli 2017 | Music therapy was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Razmjoo 2012 | Reflexology was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Reynolds 1987 | The study was not randomised trial. Quote: "the study was not randomised in that odd and even hospital numbers were used to divide patients into and control groups". |
| Reza 2007 | CAM was used in the intra‐operative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Robinson 2017 | Counselling is not considered a CAM and the trial was withdrawn. |
| Saberkari 2009 | Only the abstract is available. |
| Sadeghi 2019 | CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Sen 2009 | CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Shabanian 2017 | CAM was used in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Sharifi 2013 | The Quran is not considered as CAM. The intervention was used to prevent postoperative pain after CS (intervention used in the preoperative period). |
| Sharifipour 2015b | CAM was not used for the treatment of post‐cesarean pain. |
| Tarasov 1995 | Only the abstract is available. |
| vanderVaart 2011 | CAM was started in the preoperative period to prevent postoperative pain after CS. |
| Xue 2016 | The study was not a randomised trial. |
CAM: complementary and alternative medicine CS: caesarean section TENS: transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation