Management of the third stage of labour in women at low risk of postpartum haemorrhage.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Oxytocics.

To compare active management with physiological management of the third stage of labour in women at low risk of postpartum haemorrhage.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 193 women taking part.

PubMed tags the participants as women only.

Randomised allocation of women in labour at low risk of postpartum haemorrhage to either physiological or active management of the third stage.

193 Women with spontaneous vaginal delivery at term completed the study.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized study.

The women were allocated by chance, so the Oxytocics group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Labour ward in a district general hospital.

Exclusion criteria were induction or augmentation of labour, antepartum or previous postpartum haemorrhage, premature rupture of membranes, previous caesarean section, raised blood pressure, cervical lacerations and third degree tears.

Active management with syntometrine and controlled cord traction; or physiological management, where the cord was not clamped and the placenta was delivered by maternal effort.

Blood loss was measured subjectively at delivery and estimated objectively by comparing the haemoglobin in labour with that on the third postpartum day.

The duration of the third stage was also measured as was the incidence of retained placenta and blood transfusion.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Delivery, Obstetric, Ergonovine, Hemoglobins, Labor Stage, Third, Oxytocics, Oxytocin and Postpartum Hemorrhage.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Oxytocics in 193 women.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 1993 (European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology), a journal based in Ireland.

More context: all human trials.