ArticlePilot and feasibility studies2018
Using a peanut ball during labour versus not using a peanut ball during labour for women using an epidural: study protocol for a randomised controlled pilot study.
Article in Pilot and feasibility studies, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07333209 (Determine the Impact of Scheduled Positioning With a Peanutball on Labor Outcomes Among Primiparous Women Under Epidural Analgesia), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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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.
Determine the Impact of Scheduled Positioning With a Peanutball on Labor Outcomes Among Primiparous Women Under Epidural Analgesia: A Non-Invasive Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Effects of peanut ball use on perceived labor pain, fatigue, and mother's perception of childbirth: a randomized controlled trial.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2025Trial
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe peanut ball has only been recently used as a support for women labouring with epidurals. The peanut ball is shaped like a peanut and fits snugly between the woman's legs so that both legs are maintained as opening the pelvic outlet to increase the progress of labour and facilitate descent of the fetal head. Using position changes during labour to enhance widening of the pelvic outlet can be beneficial but a woman who has an epidural is limited in the number of positions she can adopt. No randomised controlled trial has been implemented in Australia to establish the effectiveness of a peanut ball specifically for women using epidurals during labour, and this project addresses this gap. The main aim of this pilot study is to assess the feasibility and practicality of conducting and replicating this trial to a definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT).
methodsA minimum number of 50 women (25 in each trial arm), who are using an epidural in labour at two hospitals in NSW over a 1-year period, will be recruited and randomly allocated into a group that uses the peanut ball or into a group that does not use the peanut ball. Primary study objectives include assessing the proportion of women willing to be randomised, retention/attrition rates, and with associated reasons. Data will be collected on key clinical outcomes (natural birth rate, length of stay) with means and variances estimated between trial arms. This will inform the appropriate powering of a future definitive RCT. Secondary study objectives will include investigating the completion and acceptability of health and satisfaction surveys and assess the feasibility of conducting an economic evaluation alongside a future trial. DISCUSSION: This is a two-armed randomised controlled pilot trial. Outcomes from this pilot will inform a larger trial at a tertiary hospital.
trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12618000662268.
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