Inducing labor at 39 weeks is safe and linked to lower risk of C-section, study finds
“I think it’s going to have a very big impact on obstetric practice not just in the U.S., but around the world,” said one expert who has studied the health…
A large new study adds to the evidence that inducing labor at 39 weeks is as safe as waiting for labor to occur naturally, a finding that experts say could change the way some women in the U.S. choose to give birth.
In a paper published Wednesday, researchers found that inducing labor at 39 weeks — when a pregnancy has reached full-term — didn’t result in any higher risk of perinatal death or severe health problems in infants. Even more striking: Women who had labor induced were less likely to have a C-section or experience problems with blood pressure than women who didn’t.
This finding overturns a long-held assumption that inducing labor at 39 weeks would raise a woman’s risk of C-section, experts
