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.