Maternal and neonatal outcomes for women undergoing elective caesarean section in the late preterm period
| No of studies | No of the patients | Effect | Certainty | |||
| ACS | Non-ACS | OR (95% CI) | Absolute (95% CI) | |||
| Maternal outcomes | ||||||
| Hypertensive disorders | 1 | 3/58 (5.2%) | 15/107 (14.0%) | 0.33 (0.09 to 1.21) | 89 fewer per 1000 (from 126 fewer to 25 more) | Very low |
| Gestational diabetes mellitus | 1 | 3/30 (10.0%) | 4/10 (40.0%) | 0.17 (0.03 to 0.95) | 298 fewer per 1000 (from 380 to 12 fewer) | Very low |
| Neonatal outcomes | ||||||
| RDS | 2 | 12/88 (13.6%) | 11/117 (9.4%) | 0.80 (0.29 to 2.24) | 17 fewer per 1000 (from 65 fewer to 95 more) | Very low |
| IVH | 1 | 0/58 (0.0%) | 1/107 (0.9%) | 0.61 (0.02 to 15.13) | 4 fewer per 1000 (from 9 fewer to 116 more) | Very low |
| Necrotising enterocolitis | 1 | 0/58 (0.0%) | 1/107 (0.9%) | 0.61 (0.02 to 15.13) | 4 fewer per 1000 (from 9 fewer to 116 more) | Very low |
| Neonatal hypoglycaemia | 2 | 30/88 (34.1%) | 37/117 (31.6%) | 1.50 (0.81 to 2.78) | 93 more per 1000 (from 44 fewer to 246 more) | Very low |
| Use of mechanical ventilation | 2 | 12/88 (13.6%) | 11/117 (9.4%) | 0.80 (0.30 to 2.12) | 17 fewer per 1000 (from 64 fewer to 86 more) | Very low |
| Admission to NICU | 2 | 10/88 (11.4%) | 14/117 (12.0%) | 0.78 (0.23 to 2.72) | 24 fewer per 1000 (from 89 fewer to 150 more) | Very low |
| Apgar score ≤7 at 5 min | 1 | 2/58 (3.4%) | 0/107 (0.0%) | 9.51 (0.45 to 201.57) | 0 fewer per 1000 (from 0 fewer to 0 fewer) | Very low |
| Mean duration of mechanical ventilation | 1 | 30 | 10 | – | Mean difference 0.2 lower (1.35 lower to 0.95 higher) | Very low |
| Oxygen requirement for at least 4 hours | 1 | 13/58 (22.4%) | 25/107 (23.4%) | 0.95 (0.44 to 2.03) | 9 fewer per 1000 (from 115 fewer to 149 more) | Very low |
ACS, antenatal corticosteroid; IVH, intraventricular haemorrhage; NICU, neonatal intensive care unit; RDS, respiratory distress syndrome.