SynthesisSystematic reviews2015
The effect of antenatal education in small classes on obstetric and psycho-social outcomes - a systematic review.
Synthesis in Systematic reviews, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The effect of prenatal education on fear of childbirth, pain intensity during labour and childbirth experience: a scoping review using systematic approach and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Pooled it
- Antenatal small-class education versus auditorium-based lectures to promote positive transitioning to parenthood - A randomised trial.PloS one · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Patient Empowerment and Agency through Intrapartum Counseling and Education (PEAICE): A randomized controlled trial.Pregnancy (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- An overview of reviews of breastfeeding barriers and facilitators: Analyzing global research trends and hotspots.Global epidemiology · 2025Review
- Article
- What Do Antenatal Women Want From Their Antenatal Education? A National Survey.Maternal and child health journal · 2025Article
- Effects of antenatal education on maternal anxiety and depression in pregnancy and postpartum period in Italy: modest and transient symptom reductions.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Empowering Expecting Mothers: The Impact of Antenatal Classes on Child Birth Experience.Cureus · 2024Article
- Association of Beverage Consumption during Pregnancy with Adverse Maternal and Offspring Outcomes.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Codesign and refinement of an optimised antenatal education session to better inform women and prepare them for labour and birth.BMJ open quality · 2024Article
- Do antenatal preparation and obstetric complications and procedures interact to affect birth experience and postnatal mental health?BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Intrahousehold power inequalities and cooperation: Unpacking household responses to nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions in rural India.Maternal & child nutrition · 2023Article
- Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Literacy of Pregnant Women: A Scoping Review.Oral health & preventive dentistry · 2023Article
- Exploring Western Australian Women's experiences of sharing positive birth stories.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2022Article
- Present Situation and the Future Development of Web-Based Prenatal Education in China: Cross-sectional Web-Based Survey.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Article
- Childbirth experience, risk of PTSD and obstetric and neonatal outcomes according to antenatal classes attendance.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- The effect of an application-based educational intervention with a social cognitive theory model on pregnant women in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia: a randomized controlled trial.Osong public health and research perspectives · 2022Article
- The Effect of Hospital-Based Childbirth Classes on Birth Outcomes.The Journal of perinatal education · 2021Article
- Evaluation of Pregnancy, Delivery, and Postpartum Effectiveness of Maternity School Trainings Organized Based on the Guideline of Ministry of Health in Turkey: A Comparative Study.International journal of preventive medicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe aims of antenatal education are broad and encompass outcomes related to pregnancy, birth, and parenthood. Both form and content of antenatal education have changed over time without evidence of effects on relevant outcomes. The effect of antenatal education in groups, with participation of a small number of participants, may differ from the effect of other forms of antenatal education due to, for example, group dynamic. The objective of this systematic review is to assess the effects of antenatal education in small groups on obstetric as well as psycho-social outcomes.
methodsBibliographic databases (Medline, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL, Web of Science, and PsycINFO) were searched. We included randomized and quasi-randomized trials irrespective of language, publication year, publication type, and publication status. Only trials carried out in the Western world were considered in this review. Studies were assessed for bias using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results are presented as structured summaries of the included trials and as forest plots.
resultsWe identified 5,708 records. Of these, 17 studies met inclusion criteria. Studies varied greatly in content of the experimental and control condition. All outcomes were only reported in a single or a few trials, leading to limited or uncertain confidence in effect estimates. Given the heterogeneity in interventions and outcomes and also the high risk of bias of studies, we are unable to draw definitive conclusions as to the impact of small group antenatal education on obstetric and psycho-social outcomes.
conclusionsInsufficient evidence exists as to whether antenatal education in small classes is effective in regard to obstetric and psycho-social outcomes. We recommend updating this review following the emergence of well-conducted randomized controlled trials with a low risk of bias. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42013004319.
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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.