Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2001
Conservative management of persistent postnatal urinary and faecal incontinence: randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2001. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02270008 (Reducing Perinatal Anal Incontinence Through Early Pelvic Floor Muscle Training), which is not on this map. Cited by 36 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Reducing Perinatal Anal Incontinence Through Early Pelvic Floor Muscle Training: a Prospective Pilot Study
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 186 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative effectiveness and certainty of exercise-based interventions for postpartum depressive symptoms: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of Training Interventions to Treat Postpartum Urinary Incontinence: A Meta-Analysis.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of postpartum exercise on pelvic floor disorders and diastasis recti abdominis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.British journal of sports medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Pelvic floor muscle training for preventing and treating urinary and faecal incontinence in antenatal and postnatal women.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Pelvic floor muscle training for prevention and treatment of urinary and faecal incontinence in antenatal and postnatal women.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Lifestyle interventions for the treatment of urinary incontinence in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Biofeedback and/or sphincter exercises for the treatment of faecal incontinence in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012Pooled it
- Bladder training for urinary incontinence in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2004Pooled it
- Maternal outcomes at 3 months after planned caesarean section versus planned vaginal birth for twin pregnancies in the Twin Birth Study: a randomised controlled trial.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2015Trial
- Effect of pelvic floor muscle exercises in the treatment of urinary incontinence during pregnancy and the postpartum period.International urogynecology journal and pelvic floor dysfunction · 2009Trial
- Does antenatal pelvic floor muscle training affect the outcome of labour? A randomised controlled trial.International urogynecology journal and pelvic floor dysfunction · 2008Trial
- Pelvic floor muscle training is not effective in women with UI in pregnancy: a randomised controlled trial.International urogynecology journal and pelvic floor dysfunction · 2007Trial
- Clinical and cost-effectiveness of a new nurse-led continence service: a randomised controlled trial.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2005Trial
- Randomised controlled trial of conservative management of postnatal urinary and faecal incontinence: six year follow up.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2005Trial
- The Effectiveness of PFMT in Treating Postpartum Urinary 1 Incontinence: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.International urogynecology journal · 2026Review
- Urinary incontinence during pregnancy and in the postpartum period.Nature reviews. Urology · 2026Review
- Compliance and Adherence to Pelvic Floor Exercise Therapy in People with Pelvic Floor Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Prevalence of urinary incontinence in postpartum women and physiotherapy interventions applied: An integrative review.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Review
- International urogynecology consultation chapter 3 committee 2; conservative treatment of patient with pelvic organ prolapse: Pelvic floor muscle training.International urogynecology journal · 2022Review
- Women's experiences of the injury, recovery and desire for rehabilitation after a second-degree vaginal tear-a qualitative study.International urogynecology journal · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo assess the effect of nurse assessment with reinforcement of pelvic floor muscle training exercises and bladder training compared with standard management among women with persistent incontinence three months postnatally.
designRandomised controlled trial with nine months' follow up.
settingCommunity intervention in three centres (Dunedin, New Zealand; Birmingham; Aberdeen).
participants747 women with urinary incontinence three months postnatally, allocated at random to intervention (371) or control (376) groups.
interventionAssessment by nurses of urinary incontinence with conservative advice on pelvic floor exercises at five, seven, and nine months after delivery supplemented with bladder training if appropriate at seven and nine months.
main outcome measuresPrimary: persistence and severity of urinary incontinence 12 months after delivery. Secondary: performance of pelvic floor exercises, change in coexisting faecal incontinence, wellbeing, anxiety, and depression.
resultsWomen in the intervention group had significantly less urinary incontinence: 167/279 (59.9%) v 169/245 (69.0%), difference 9.1% (95% confidence interval 1.0% to 17.3%, P=0.037) for any incontinence and 55/279 (19.7%) v 78/245 (31.8%), difference 12.1% (4.7% to 19.6%, P=0.002) for severe incontinence. Faecal incontinence was also less common: 12/273 (4.4%) v 25/237 (10.5%), difference 6.1% (1.6% to 10.8%, P=0.012). At 12 months women in the intervention group were more likely to be performing pelvic floor exercises (218/278 (79%) v 118/244 (48%), P<0.001).
conclusionsA third of women may have some urinary incontinence three months after childbirth. Conservative management provided by nurses seems to reduce the likelihood of urinary and coexisting faecal incontinence persisting 12 months postpartum. Further trials for faecal incontinence are needed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.