Use of the peanut ball during labour: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

AIM: This study aimed to determine effectiveness of peanut ball on the duration of the stages of labour and frequency of caesarean section. DESIGN: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. METHOD: A comprehensive electronic search was carried out with no time limit until December 2020. Collected data were analysed using software RevMan‐ version 5.3. Heterogeneity was assessed using I (2), T (2), and (2). GRADE approach was used to assess the certainty of evidence. RESULTS: The meta‐analysis on six clinical trials with 645 participants showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups in caesarean surgery rate (RR = 0.82) and length of the first (MD = −15.64). CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, further clinical trials with stronger evidence should be carried out to assess the effectiveness of peanut ball on caesarean surgery rate and length of first and second stages of labour.