Conclusions
Moderate certainty of evidence demonstrated that the use of lubricants
could reduce the incidence of second-degree perineal laceration. Low
certainty of evidence suggested that the use of lubricants might reduce
the incidence of perineal trauma, episiotomy and shorten the duration of
second-stage labor. For both nulliparous and multiparous women,
lubricant use reduced the incidence of perineal trauma, second-degree
perineal laceration. In addition, nulliparous women used with lubricant
had a higher rate of intact perineum and shortened the duration of
second-stage labor while multiparous women had a lower incidence of
first-degree perineal laceration. Future researches should evaluate if
lubricants are associated with reduced perineal trauma in different
birthweight and ethnicities. To our knowledge, none of the studies
included in this review have women’s acceptability of the interventions
as an outcome. This could be considered in further research.