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by dabbledash 2804 days ago
Elective induction of labor at 39 weeks results in a lower c-section rate than expectant management (waiting to see if labor will start naturally).

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/induced-labor-...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4049989/

Normally though, induction happens because there is some problem or because the pregnancy has gone past the due date, and in these cases your risk of a c-section is already elevated.

1 comments

Makes sense. As mentioned in the comments, there are different ways of inducing labor. I was referring to usage of pitocin or similar too early in the process, instead of gradually inducing the labor with other medications. We had success with just misoprostol during our labor, but the process was quite long.
These inductions would have been primarily pitocin and / or cervical ripening agents like cirvidil.
Misoprostol is also a cervical ripening agent comparable to cervidil.