Effect of Postpartum Outcomes in Mother's Upright Position During the Second Stage of Labor: Systematic Review

PURPOSEThe purpose of this study was to determine whether upright position is effective in labor through systematic review in randomized controlled trials. METHODSWe established the PICO (Patient-Intervention-Comparator-Outcome) strategy, and reviewed 282 literatures from national and international electronic databases, and finally selected 9 references based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. We evaluated the quality of references and carried out a meta-analysis. RESULTSThe maternal outcomes showed that the duration of their second-stage labor was 2.29 minutes shorter than that of the women in the recumbent position, and were less likely to have episiotomy. The other outcomes, including the mode of delivery, blood loss, hemoglobin level, use of oxytocin, use of analgesics, and perineal laceration, did not differ between the groups. The fetal heart rate abnormality occurred less than in the control group. The Apgar scores of the groups did not differ. CONCLUSIONThere is evidence that an upright position in the second stage of labor reduces the duration of the second stage of labor, the incidence of episiotomy, and an abnormal fetal heart rate.