Objective: We sought to describe details of labor induction, including precursors and methods, and associated vaginal delivery rates.
Study design: This was a retrospective cohort study of 208,695 electronic medical records from 19 hospitals across the United States, 2002 through 2008.
Results: Induction occurred in 42.9% of nulliparas and 31.8% of multiparas and elective or no recorded indication for induction at term occurred in 35.5% and 44.1%, respectively. Elective induction at term in multiparas was highly successful (vaginal delivery 97%) compared to nulliparas (76.2%). For all precursors, cesarean delivery was more common in nulliparas in the latent compared to active phase of labor. Regardless of method, vaginal delivery rates were higher with a ripe vs unripe cervix, particularly for multiparas (86.6-100%).
Conclusion: Induction of labor was a common obstetric intervention. Selecting appropriate candidates and waiting longer for labor to progress into the active phase would make an impact on decreasing the national cesarean delivery rate.
Published by Mosby, Inc.