There appears to be no benefit to providing supplemental oxygen to women during labour and delivery, according to a large meta-analysis.

The study encompassed 6 randomised clinical trials that compared the association of peripartum maternal oxygen administration with room air on umbilical artery gas measures and neonatal outcomes, with a total of 1078 women in the oxygen group and 974 in the room-air group.

Compared with room air, maternal oxygen supplementation increased umbilical artery PaO₂ significantly (mean difference, 2.6mm Hg) but did not influence pH, the US authors reported.

“The [umbilical artery] pH remained similar between the oxygen and room air groups even after accounting for risk of bias, use of low-flow devices, or [fraction of inspired oxygen] less than 60%,” the researchers, led by maternal-fetal medicine specialist Dr Nandini Raghuraman of St Louis, Missouri reported in JAMA Pediatrics.