Breath-Holding vs. exhaling: which pushing style is safer for delivery?
NCT ID NCT02474745
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study looked at two ways of pushing during the final stage of labor: holding your breath while pushing (Valsalva) versus pushing while exhaling (open-glottis). Researchers wanted to see which method leads to fewer injuries and better outcomes for both mother and baby. A total of 256 women who had attended childbirth classes took part, and the results help guide safer delivery practices.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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256 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jul 2015
- Finished
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Jun 2017
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Female participants only
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients will be women: * who are nulliparas or multiparas (≥ 1 previous child), * who attended the complete training session on the types of pushing assessed in this trial; during prenatal childbirth preparation and parenthood classes (regardless of the type of prenatal preparation) * for whom a vaginal delivery was planned at the end of pregnancy, * admitted to the maternity ward between 37 and 42 weeks of gestation (≥ 37 weeks and ≤ 42 weeks) in spontaneous or induced labor, * with cervical dilatation ≥ 7 cm, * with a singleton pregnancy in cephalic presentation, * who provided informed consent in writing * and speaks and writes French. Exclusion Criteria: * Women who are : * minors, * adults but incapable of providing consent for the study, * with a disorder contraindicating prolonged pushing, * with a uterine scar (previous cesarean or other surgery), * with a contraindication to vaginal delivery, * with a maternal disease that could justify in the short-term termination of the pregnancy (HELLP syndrome, preeclampsia \[hypertension with albuminuria \> 0.3 g by 24 hours\], eclampsia, abruptio placentae, etc.), * with a major genital hemorrhage, * with a major fetal malformation and/or hydramnios or oligohydramnios, and/or FGR (\<5°percentile), diagnosed in utero, * with a fetal heart rate anomaly before randomization, * with an in utero fetal death, * with a multiple pregnancy.
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As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Chu Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand, 63003, France
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