ArticleEuropean journal of midwifery2024
What is known about changes in pelvic floor muscle strength and tone in women during the childbirth pathway? A scoping review.
Article in European journal of midwifery, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Tugging the Foley catheter balloon every 3 h in nulliparous induction of labor: A randomized controlled trial.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Trial
- Time-Series Analysis of Pregnancy and Childbirth Effects on Pelvic Floor Muscle Electrophysiology and Morphology in Rats.International urogynecology journal · 2026Article
- Identification of risk factors for postpartum pelvic floor dysfunction in a Chinese population: a retrospective study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of Exercise Therapy for Postpartum Urinary Incontinence-Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThis scoping review aims to comprehensively explore the existing research on the changes in pelvic floor function that occur throughout the childbirth pathway (antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal period). Furthermore, it seeks to identify new opportunities and directions for future research in this field. In particular, this review focuses on investigating pelvic floor muscle strength and tone in women during the childbirth pathway.
methodsThe following databases were investigated from their inception: PubMed, OVID, Medline, ScienceDirect, The Cochrane Central Library, Scopus, Web of Science, PEDro, Scholar Google, Embase, and CINHAIL. Literature research was carried out from March to October 2022. Records identified through database searching were imported to Covidence. According to Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage scoping review framework, researchers screen titles and abstracts for eligibility and exclude records that do not meet the inclusion criteria.
resultsA total of 40 studies were included in the data extraction phase. These articles underwent a review, with a specific emphasis on examining the tone, strength, and distensibility of the pelvic floor throughout the childbirth pathway. Among the selected studies, 22 investigated pelvic floor strength, 7 the distensibility, and 3 articles the tone.
conclusionsThis review identified both areas of agreement and disagreement across all three themes examined, with a particular emphasis on labor and the postpartum period. Notably, the review unveiled a significant scarcity of data concerning the tone of pelvic floor muscles throughout the childbirth pathway. Further studies to investigate the relationship between midwifery care and pelvic floor outcomes are required to improve clinical practice.
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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.