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Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many obstetricians and some midwives had begun recommending routine elective induction, meaning no medical reason for inducing labor, at 39 weeks. With the [...]

For those of you struggling with the news sweeping the internet that a trial has definitively established that women should be routinely induced at 39 weeks, a new study offers push back. (FYI: I [...]

Abstract: Obstetrician-gynecologists . . . can help women meet their goals for labor and birth by using techniques that are associated with minimal interventions and high rates of patient [...]

The Stir picks up on a U Penn press release extolling a combo method of inducing labor that decreases labor duration by 4 hours compared with inducing with either of its components alone. I get [...]

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a press release highlighting a study finding that planned cesarean or induction before 39 completed weeks increases the odds of developmental [...]

“Our evidence suggests that mainstream obstetric science follows mainstream obstetric practice. A patient and expectant approach to birth…where all is considered normal until proved otherwise, [...]

Science & Sensibility interviews Rebecca Dekker about her new “Evidence Based Birth” post on the issues of pregnancy and birth in women aged 35 or more. The interview provides an overview of [...]

Some months ago, Henci deconstructed the prepublication manuscript of a systematic review concluding that elective induction at 40 weeks had benefits and didn’t increase the cesarean rate for [...]

Using a balloon catheter to ripen the cervix* in preparation for labor induction results in similar rates of cesarean, chorioamnionitis (inflammation of the fetal membranes), and low Apgar [...]

A Medscape article reporting on a randomized controlled trial claims that induction with an unfavorable cervix doesn’t increase cesarean rates, but let’s look closer. Investigators randomly [...]