Induction of Labor

Induction of labor is a medical procedure in which a health care professional artificially starts the process of childbirth rather than allowing labor to begin on its own. It is performed when continuing the pregnancy poses a risk to the mother or the baby, for reasons that include a pregnancy going past its due date, restricted fetal growth, pre-eclampsia, rupture of the membranes, or maternal conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure. It is carried out either with medication, most often prostaglandins or intravenous oxytocin, or by mechanical means such as sweeping the membranes, artificially rupturing them, or using a cervical balloon catheter, and in Western countries roughly one in four pregnant women has labor induced with drug treatment.