“Induction of labour in medically uncomplicated nulliparous women at term carries a more than doubling of risk of emergency CS [caesarean section], compared with spontaneous labour, with no impact on perinatal mortality.
All methods of induction and augmentation of labour were associated with an increase in the rate of CS.
Women included in this study had no apparent medical indication for induction of labour or any complication of pregnancy, so the increase in CS was not due to identifiable underlying risk factors.
These results suggest that, in the absence of direction from well-designed, contemporary RCTs, minimising unindicated inductions before 41 weeks’ gestation has the potential to reduce the rate of CS.”
In Your Own Time was written to help parents and professionals better understand the issues and the evidence relating to the current induction epidemic. Looks at the evidence relating to due dates, ‘post-term’, older and larger women, suspected big babies, maternal race and more.
Davey M-A and King J (2016). Caesarean section following induction of labour in uncomplicated first births- a population-based cross-sectional analysis of 42,950 births. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2016:16:92
photo credit: Primal Scream via photopin (license)
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