Labor Inductions Increase Risk Of Caesareans, Study Finds

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 12 Jan 2010 - 2:00 PDT

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Inducing labor prior to 39 weeks' gestation increases the risk of caesarean section, according to a study in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reuters reports.

Christopher Glantz at the University of Rochester School of Medicine found that induced labor resulted in one to two c-sections per 25 inductions that could have been avoided by waiting for natural labor. Glantz said that the additional c-sections can quickly add up to tens of thousands of unnecessary procedures, which carry the risk of infection, bleeding, blood clots and injury to other organs.

For the study, Glantz analyzed birth certificate data from 38,000 women from 13 hospitals in the Finger Lakes region of New York from January 2004 to March 2008. The study excluded women with scheduled or previous c-sections and those who came to the hospital with ruptured membranes. Glantz assessed the data across three comparison groups: a week-by-week comparison of women who were induced compared with those who had spontaneous deliveries; women induced at a chosen week compared with women who had spontaneous deliveries after that week; and women induced at a chosen week compared with women who delivered spontaneously on or after that week. All induced groups had an increased risk for c-sections, except for women delivering after 39 weeks, the study found.

Glantz recommends waiting for spontaneous labor, adding that it would be best to "reserve interventions for situations where risk outweighs benefit." Such situations include cases of diabetes, high blood pressure, problems with the placenta, a fetus that is not growing well or a woman at least 10 days past her due date (Buchholz, Reuters, 1/7).

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