RN1993,
Thanks for the post above about the Cochrane article. I have replied below.
The Drayton 1984 study using a low-volume disposable phosphate enema is not comparable to the large volume soapsuds labor enemas given to women in labor in the 1940s-1960s.
The Kovavisarach 2005 study using a 118 ml enema is not comparable to the large volume soapsuds labor enemas given in the 940s-1960s.
The Cuervo 2006 study is the only one listed here where the 1 litre volume enema might be compared to the large volume soapsuds labor enemas of the 1940s-1960s, but the saline enema solution is not comparable in any way to the soapsuds enemas since it is a saline solution that probably matches the salinity of the body so it would not draw any fluid from the body into the colon, which would tend to dehydrate the woman in labor.
In the Clarke 2007 study where the participant group received a standardized enema soap solution, what was the volume of the standardized enema soap solution given to the women? It doesn't say, but I suspect it was not larger than a liter.
The Cochrane article was a review of the previously done studies and what they concluded, but the conclusions of the various studies are based on labor enema procedures that are not the same exact labor enema procedures that were carried out on omen in labor in the 1940s through the 1960s. The four studies cited seem to be concerned with the enema's beneficial effect on infection rates, such as perineal wound infection or other neonatal infections and women's satisfaction. I can't say for sure, but I doubt any pregnant woman in labor in the 1940s-1960s expressed any satisfaction when she was shaved and then given a large volume 3-H soapsuds and glycerin enema while she was having labor contractions.
I just think that the those four studies and the Cochrane article are trying to compare apples and oranges when they try to
compare the enemas used in their studies with the large volume labor enemas of the 1940s-1960s. And it appears they were not really studying whether or not the old 3-H labor enema had any effect on the speed of labor, but concluded the small volume enemas did not speed up labor.
I'm sorry for the long delay in answering, but I didn't know you had posted the reply above until today.