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Review
. 2022 Jun 30;25(2):71-78.
doi: 10.3831/KPI.2022.25.2.71.

Effect of Castor Oil on Cervical Ripening and Labor Induction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Maryam Moradi  1   2 , Azin Niazi  2 , Ehsan Mazloumi  3 , Violeta Lopez  4
Affiliations
Review

Effect of Castor Oil on Cervical Ripening and Labor Induction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Maryam Moradi et al. J Pharmacopuncture. .

Abstract

Objectives: Post-term pregnancy is a condition associated with increased maternal and fetal complications. Administration of castor oil causes cervical stimulation by increasing the production of prostaglandins. We examined the effects of castor oil on cervical ripening and labor induction through a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: The search process was performed to obtain relevant articles from databases including Pubmed, Cochrane library, Scopus, Science direct, SID, Iran Medex, and Google Scholar using the English keywords of cervical ripening, post-term, castor oil, labor induction, Bishop score, and pregnancy considering all possible combinations without time constraints and their Persian equivalents from national databases.

Results: A total of eight related articles from the 19 primary studies were extracted and systematically reviewed. According to a cumulative chart, the difference in the post-intervention Bishop score was statistically significant (standard mean difference [SMD] 1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.67-2.11, p = 0.001), indicating an effect of castor oil on increasing the Bishop score. In addition, the difference in labor induction was statistically significant after the intervention (odds ratio 11.67, 95% CI 3.34-40.81, p = 0.001), indicating an effect of castor oil on increasing the odds ratio of labor induction (experience of vaginal delivery).

Conclusion: This meta-analysis showed that oral administration of castor oil is effective for cervical ripening and labor induction. Midwives should closely monitor pregnant women with prolonged labor and collaborate with obstetricians to employ castor oil as a safe intervention to induce cervical ripening and labor to prevent undue caesarean surgery.

Keywords: bishop score; castor oil; cervical ripening; labor induction; post term pregnancy; systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST The authors declared no conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study selection procedure (PRISMA flowchart).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk of bias graph; review authors’ judgements about each risk of bias item presented in percentages across all studies.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Risk of bias summary; review authors’ judgements about each risk of bias item for each included study.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Cumulative chart for the effect of castor oil on Bishop Score.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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