Birth: Induction
Some of the reasons you may hear for induction:
- You are past 40 weeks!
- Your baby is too big or your pelvis is too small!
- Your doctor is going to be off call so you need to induce to have him/her there!
- You can arrange your baby’s delivery on a day that suits your schedule!
- You have been at 1/2/3cm for over a week now!
- You are uncomfortable and deserve a break now!
- Prodromal labour is ‘not doing anything’
To help you make an informed decision, you must have the facts about elective induction. Key, of course, is whether it is generally safe and effective, but in order to accurately weigh the risks and benefits, you will also need to know who makes a good candidate and how to minimize the likelihood of problems.
- Is Elective Induction Safe and Effective?
- How did obstetricians come to believe elective induction was harmless?
- Who makes a good candidate for elective induction?
- How can women considering elective induction minimize the risks?
- Bibliography
What is a Bishop's Score?
To ensure your own induction's success rate, inquire about your Bishop's score or better yet learn each part of the score and figure it out for yourself. The unfortunate reality seen lately is inductions with scores as low as 2 which makes induction very difficult and success rates low. Induction with low Bishops scores decreases a woman's coping ability with the increased pain of induction and the increased length of labour. This can be combined with AROM (artificial rupture of membranes) to supposedly increase the success rate early in the induction, but in fact this far too often leads to cesarean births as ruptured membranes increases the chance of infection for both mother and baby. Make informed decisions for both you and your baby!
This is the table used to determine how successful an induction of labour might be. It is recommended that the Bishop's Score by greater than 9 for it to be successful.