Scoping Review on En Caul Births

To identify and analyze the available literature on en caul birth.

PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases.

We included all full-text, peer-reviewed reports on en caul birth (i.e., vaginal or cesarean), including research studies, case reports, case series, surveys, surgical technique descriptions, narrative reviews, and commentaries, published in English or Italian. We did not place any restrictions on the year of publication. We excluded conference abstracts and reports about nonviable fetuses.

We extracted the following data from each included source: author(s), year of publication, country, study design and duration, type of birth (i.e., vaginal or cesarean), en caul (n), en caul characteristics (i.e., spontaneous or intentional), control (n, if applicable), previous cesarean birth, fetal presentation, number of fetuses/newborns, gestational age, and study key findings.

We identified 32 full-text articles that met the inclusion criteria. We organized and summarized the literature according to birth type and narratively highlighted findings from the included reports related to gestational age, fetal presentation, and the use of en caul as a technique during cesarean birth in relationship to specific pregnancy complications.

Our results provide a map of the available, albeit limited, evidence on en caul births. The authors of the reports in our review suggested that en caul vaginal birth may offer some benefits to preterm newborns regardless of fetal presentation and that en caul cesarean birth may be beneficial with some uncommon pregnancy complications such as vasa previa.