Cochrane

What is the issue? Sometimes it is necessary to bring on labour artificially in the third trimester because of safety concerns for the mother or her baby. Most commonly used cervical ripening or induction agents also cause uterine activity or contraction, which requires close monitoring of mother and baby within a hospital environment. Why is this ...

Labour induction is the artificial stimulation of uterine contractions in order to bring about birth. It is commonly used in late pregnancy to address maternal and fetal problems. Induction of labour using pharmacological and mechanical methods can cause complications or side-effects such as bleeding, caesarean section uterine hyperstimulation and maternal ...

Induction of labour is offered to pregnant women when it is thought the outcome will be better for the mother and/or baby if the baby is born than if the pregnancy continues. Common reasons include prolonged pregnancy, prelabour rupture of the membranes, concerns about the health of the mother such as pre-eclampsia or the baby such as poor growth. Prostaglandins ...

Oral misoprostol is effective at inducing (starting) labour. It is more effective than placebo, as effective as vaginal misoprostol and results in fewer caesarean sections than vaginal dinoprostone or oxytocin. However, there are still not enough data from randomised controlled trials to determine the best dose to ensure safety. Induction of labour ...

Sometimes it is necessary to bring on labour artificially. Castor oil has been widely used as a traditional method of inducing labour in midwifery practice. It can be taken by mouth or as an enema. The review of three trials, involving 233 women, found there has not been enough research done to show the effects of castor oil on ripening the cervix or ...

Labour induction is a common obstetric procedure that is carried out when the risk of continuing pregnancy outweighs the benefits. Mechanical methods of induction were developed to promote cervical ripening and the onset of labour by stretching the cervix. They are amongst the oldest methods to initiate labour. More recently pharmacological prostaglandins ...

Sometimes it is necessary to bring on labour artificially because of safety concerns for the mother or baby. Misoprostol is a hormone given by insertion through the vagina or rectum, or by mouth to ripen the cervix and bring on labour. The review of 121 trials found that larger doses of misoprostol are more effective than prostaglandin and that oxytocin ...

Sometimes it is necessary to bring on labour artificially, because of safety concerns either for the pregnant woman or her baby. Oxytocin is the most common drug used to induce labour and has been used either alone, with other drugs or after artificial rupture of the membranes. In this review we looked at the use of oxytocin alone for inducing labour. ...

Not enough evidence on the effects of mifepristone (RU 486) to induce labour. The female sex hormone, progesterone stops the uterus contracting during pregnancy. Drugs such as mifepristone have been used to stop the action of this hormone, either to induce labour or to allow the pregnancy to be terminated. The review of ten trials (1108 women) found ...

Prostaglandins inserted into the cervix are effective in starting labour, but are inferior to vaginal administration. Prostaglandins are produced naturally by the body during the process of labour. Their role is to prepare the cervix and to help open the cervix in response to contractions. When it is decided to induce labour and the cervix is not yet ...