Effects of consuming date fruits (Phoenix dactylifera Linn) on gestation, labor, and delivery: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials

Abstract Background Recent studies have shown that consumption of date fruits during pregnancy and also postpartum period might affect some pregnancy outcomes. We performed an updated systematic review and meta-analysis about the effects of consuming date fruits on gestation, labor, and delivery. Methods Two researchers independently searched the online databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Google Scholar, and EBSCO up to January 2019 for clinical trials examining the effects of date fruits consumption on any types of gestation, labor, and delivery outcomes. A fixed-effects model or random-effects models were applied to pool data, where appropriate. Quality assessment was done by Jadad scale. Results In total, 11 and 8 studies were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. Meta-analysis revealed that date fruit consumption significantly reduced gestation duration (pooled effect size: −0.30, 95% CI: −0.45, −0.15; P  Conclusions Date fruits intake seems to reduce gestation duration and duration of the first stage of labor, and also increase cervical dilation on admission.