Search Strategy and Inclusion Criteria
We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, CAB, EMBASE, African Index Medicus, and
CINAHL databases from inception (1966) until July
28th, 2020, to identify all studies in women with a
prior CS conducted in SSA. We also reviewed reference lists of included
articles and available systematic reviews to identify additional
articles. Specific search terms included vaginal birth after caesarean,
trial of labour after caesarean, caesarean section/delivery, abdominal
delivery, and trial of labour. Unpublished studies were not included in
this search. Full details of the search strategy are available in Table
S1.
We included studies from full-text published studies in either English
or French. Studies had to report information on participants with at
least one prior CS presenting for delivery in a subsequent pregnancy. We
included articles reporting planned and actual mode of delivery and
delivery outcomes, including maternal, fetal and neonatal outcomes. We
included studies with a range of study designs, including randomised
controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, cross-sectional
studies and case series and be conducted in a range of clinical
settings. We excluded articles with a study setting outside of SSA and
those focusing on a narrower subset of women within the desired
population, e.g., only women with multiple gestations or with a
hypertensive disorder of pregnancy.