Women's Decision-Making And Factors Affecting Their Choice Of ...

the state of research on the topic of women's views regarding decision-making
about the place of birth, and some recommendations.
Rationale for undertaking a systematic review
Systematic reviews of the literature are a scientific method used to
summarise, evaluate, and communicate results and implications of studies in a
particular subject. In the health field, systematic reviews are commonly employed
to verify effectiveness, such as when there is uncertainty regarding potential
benefits or harm of an intervention, when there are variations in practice, when a
decision concerning the provision of a health technology is being proposed or
when research is being planned or practised (NHS Centre for Reviews and
Dissemination 1996). Systematic reviews are favoured in preference to traditional
literature reviews, also called narrative reviews, because systematic reviews are a
rigorous method of reviewing research evidence relating to questions of direct
relevance to a chosen topic to promote the implementation of evidence-based
practice. Systematic reviews summarise large bodies of evidence in a rigorous
way, and help to explain differences between studies on the same question.
The review process itself is a form of research, with a pre-planned method
and an assemblage of original studies, which serve as subjects for the study. The
compound of primary studies that address the relevant question are combined by
using scientific strategies that limit bias in their collection, critical appraisal and
synthesis (Cook, Mulrow, and Haynes 1997). The strategies involve a
comprehensive search of all potentially relevant articles, and the use of explicit,
reproducible criteria in the selection of articles for review by giving the principles
for inclusion and exclusion. Both published and unpublished studies are
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