Women may have their pubic hairs shaved with a razor (perineal shaving) when they are admitted to hospital to give childbirth. This is done in the belief that shaving reduces the risk of infection if the perineum tears or a episiotomy is performed and that it makes suturing easier and helps with instrumental deliveries. Shaving is a routine procedure in some countries. The present review found no evidence of any clinical benefit with perineal shaving. Not routinely shaving women before labour appeared safe. Three controlled trials that involved a total of 1039 women were reported on between 1922 and 2005. They each used antiseptic skin preparation and compared perineal shaving with cutting vulval hairs. When the findings of the trials were combined, no differences were found, with and without shaving, on the number of mothers who experiencing high body temperatures after the birth (maternal febrile morbidity). One trial also looked at perineal wound infection, the incidence of open wounds and maternal satisfaction immediately after a perineal repair had been completed and found no difference between groups. Most of the side-effects attributable to shaving occur later, as described by one of the trials. These included irritation, redness, multiple superficial scratches from the razor and burning and itching of the vulva. No trial assessed the views of the women about shaving, such as pain, embarrassment or discomfort during hair regrowth, to determine the most appropriate form of care in terms of health gain.

This is a Cochrane review abstract and plain language summary, prepared and maintained by The Cochrane Collaboration, currently published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010 Issue 7, Copyright © 2010 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.. The full text of the review is available in The Cochrane Library (ISSN 1464-780X).
This record should be cited as: Basevi V, Lavender T. Routine perineal shaving on admission in labour. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2001, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD001236. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001236

Editorial Group: Pregnancy and Childbirth Group

This version first published online: January 22. 2001
Last assessed as up-to-date: January 2. 2008

Abstract

Background

Pubic or perineal shaving is a procedure performed before birth in order to lessen the risk of infection if there is a spontaneous perineal tear or if an episiotomy is performed.

Objectives

To assess the effects of routine perineal shaving before birth on maternal and neonatal outcomes, according to the best available evidence.

Search strategy

We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (2 January 2008).

Selection criteria

All controlled trials (including quasi-randomised) that compare perineal shaving versus no perineal shaving.

Data collection and analysis

We evaluated trials under consideration for methodological quality and appropriateness for inclusion without consideration of their results.

Main results

Three trials fulfilled the prespecified criteria. In the earlier trial, 389 women were alternately allocated to receive either skin preparation and perineal shaving or clipping of vulval hair only. In the second trial, which included 150 participants, perineal shaving was compared with the cutting of long hairs for procedures only. In the third trial, 500 women were randomly allocated to shaving of perineal area or cutting of perineal hair. The primary outcome for all three trials was maternal febrile morbidity. No differences were found (combined odds ratio (OR) 1.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.70 to 1.90).

No differences were found in terms of perineal wound infection (OR 1.52, 95% CI 0.79 to 2.90) and perineal wound dehiscence (OR 0.13, 95% CI 0.00 to 6.70) in the larger trial, the only one assessing these outcomes.

In the smaller trial, fewer women who had not been shaved had Gram-negative bacterial colonisation compared with women who had been shaved (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.92).

Authors' conclusions

There is insufficient evidence to recommend perineal shaving for women on admission in labour.

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