Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32919464›Full record

SynthesisBMC pregnancy and childbirth2020

Intrapartum uterine activity and neonatal outcomes: a systematic review.

Adam J Reynolds, Michael P Geary, Breda C Hayes

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
2.9field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Contraction frequency and acidemia at birth: A case-control study.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Adam J ReynoldsDepartment of Neonatology, The Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. adamreynolds@physicians.ie.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7033-241X
Michael P GearyDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Breda C HayesDepartment of Neonatology, The Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Rotunda Hospital · IE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIncreased uterine activity (UA) may not allow adequate recovery time for foetal oxygenation.

methodsThe aim of the study was to determine if increased UA during labour is associated with an increased risk of either short- or long-term neurological injury in term neonates, or with neonatal proxy measures of intrapartum hypoxia-ischemia. MEDLINE, CINAHL, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched using the following terms: uterine activity, excessive uterine activity, XSUA, uterine hyperstimulation, and tachysystole. Any study that analysed the relationship between UA during term labour and neurological outcomes/selected proxy neurological outcomes was eligible for inclusion. Outcomes from individual studies were reported in tables and presented descriptively with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for dichotomous outcomes and means with standard deviations for continuous outcomes. Where group numbers were provided, ORs and their CIs were calculated according to Altman. MAIN

resultsTwelve studies met the inclusion criteria. Seven studies featured umbilical artery pH as an individual outcome. Umbilical artery base excess and Apgar scores were both reported as individual outcomes in four studies. No study examined long term neurodevelopmental outcomes and only one study reported on encephalopathy as an outcome. The evidence for a relationship between UA and adverse infant outcomes was inconsistent. The reported estimated effect size varied from non-existent to clinically significant.

conclusionsThere is some evidence that increased UA may be a non-specific predictor of depressed neurological function in the newborn, but it is inconsistent and insufficient to support the conclusion that an association generally exists.

Indexed as

FemaleHumansInfant, NewbornLabor, ObstetricNervous System DiseasesPregnancyPregnancy OutcomeRisk AssessmentUterusFetal monitoringIntrapartumLabourTachysystoleUterine activityUterine contraction

Identifiers

PMID32919464
PMCPMC7488697
OpenAlexW3084770781

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.