Website maintenance is scheduled for Saturday, October 12, and Sunday, October 13. Short disruptions may occur during these days.

brand logo

Am Fam Physician. 2023;108(2):197-198

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

Clinical Question

Does maintaining an open glottis during delivery prevent perineal trauma?

Evidence-Based Answer

Open glottis pushing during the second stage of labor is a prolonged exhalation while contracting the stomach muscles. There is conflicting evidence about whether maintaining an open glottis during delivery prevents perineal trauma. (Strength of Recommendation: B, three randomized controlled trials [RCTs]) There were no differences in perineal tears or lacerations between the open glottis and closed glottis (i.e., Valsalva maneuver) delivery methods; however, in a primiparous population, a decrease in lacerations and a higher frequency of intact perineum occurred when using an open glottis delivery method. Perineal tears longer than 2 cm may be less frequent using open glottis pushing during delivery.

Evidence Summary

A 2020 RCT (n = 250) in France compared the effectiveness of directed open glottis pushing vs. closed glottis pushing.1 Participants were women of any parity, 18 years and older, with singleton pregnancies, a cephalic presentation at 37 weeks' gestation or longer, and without a history of a cesarean delivery or fetal heart tone abnormalities. All women in the study received standardized training in both types of pushing and were randomized to open glottis (n = 125) or closed glottis (n = 125) pushing during labor. Both groups had greater than 95% epidural rates. The primary outcome was the effectiveness of pushing, which was defined as a spontaneous vaginal delivery with no episiotomy or second-, third-, or fourth-degree perineal lacerations. No differences were noted between the groups in the effectiveness of pushing (adjusted relative risk [RR] = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.74 to 1.14) or in overall risk of perineal lacerations (adjusted RR = 0.98; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.14) or second-degree lacerations (adjusted RR = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.44 to 1.53). Moderate compliance was noted in the open glottis group with limited validity.

Already a member/subscriber?  Log In

Subscribe

From $165
  • Immediate, unlimited access to all AFP content
  • More than 130 CME credits/year
  • AAFP app access
  • Print delivery available
Subscribe

Issue Access

$59.95
  • Immediate, unlimited access to this issue's content
  • CME credits
  • AAFP app access
  • Print delivery available
Purchase Access:  Learn More

Clinical Inquiries provides answers to questions submitted by practicing family physicians to the Family Physicians Inquiries Network (FPIN). Members of the network select questions based on their relevance to family medicine. Answers are drawn from an approved set of evidence-based resources and undergo peer review. The strength of recommendations and the level of evidence for individual studies are rated using criteria developed by the Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group (https://www.cebm.net).

The complete database of evidence-based questions and answers is copyrighted by FPIN. If interested in submitting questions or writing answers for this series, go to https://www.fpin.org or email questions@fpin.org.

Copyright © Family Physicians Inquiries Network. Used with permission.

This series is coordinated by John E. Delzell Jr., MD, MSPH, associate medical editor.

A collection of FPIN’s Clinical Inquiries published in AFP is available at https://www.aafp.org/afp/fpin.

Continue Reading

More in AFP

More in PubMed

Copyright © 2023 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.

This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP.  See permissions for copyright questions and/or permission requests.