A new Tel Aviv University study has found there is no increased risk when labor is induced by rupturing the amniotic sac in a birthing mother.
The findings showed the natural spontaneous deliveries and induced deliveries after rupture of the amniotic sac shared similar neonatal outcomes, according to a report published in the August 8 medical journal, Archives of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.
The study was led by Dr. Liran Hiersch and Dr. Eran Ashwal at the Sackler School of Medicine and the Helen Schneider Hospital for Women at Rabin Medical Center.
“Induced labor — the process of jumpstarting delivery using prostaglandin — has gotten a bad rap. We found little justification for this” in the case of women whose water broke prematurely, said Hiersch. “People have an idea that everything natural is better, including childbirth. But induction is not necessarily more dangerous for mother and child than Mother Nature herself.”
The researchers studied the outcomes in the births of 625 mothers who were admitted to Rabin Medical Center in Tel Aviv.
Most expectant mothers are warned about artificially induced deliveries. These warnings counsel that induction may cause a low fetal heart rate, an increased risk of infection to mother and baby, and uterine rupture or excessive bleeding after delivery. However, the researchers concluded those warnings might not be accurate. “We have found that induction produces healthy mothers and infants, with risk factors similar to those of spontaneous deliveries,” Hiersch said.
It is important to note that women in the induction group were found to be at an increased risk for Caesarean section (CS), but researchers said they believe this was due mainly to blocked birth canals and not the induction itself.
Artificial induction is a possibility for all expectant mothers who have approached two weeks past their delivery date, who experience high blood pressure or diabetes, who have a uterine infection or who simply haven’t experienced contractions despite their water having broken. These women are often hospitalized for 24 hours. But after 24 hours have passed without natural delivery, most medical professionals will induce labor artificially to reduce subsequent risks to mother and child.