Interventions for preventing or improving the outcome of delivery at or beyond term

Prevalence, causes, and outcome at 2 years of age of newborn encephalopathy: population based study

“…There is now a consensus on interventions for improving the outcome of delivery at or beyond term, and Crowley 18 suggested that routine induction of labour after 41 weeks gestation appears to reduce perinatal mortality. This policy is largely applied in France.…”

Postterm pregnancy

“…Furthermore, 4.8% in the first-trimester screening group compared with 13% in the second-trimester ultrasound group had labor induced for a postterm pregnancy (RR 0.37, 95% CI 0.14-0.96), which is a 63% reduction in the induction rate for postterm pregnancy (11,12). Compared with no routine early ultrasound, routine early pregnancy (<20 weeks) ultrasound reduces by 32% to 39% the incidence of postterm pregnancy and of induction for postterm pregnancy (3,11,12) (see also chap.…”

Adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes of elective induction of labour at term vs spontaneous onset of labour; a comparison study

“…It is likely that some of these unwanted outcomes result from intervening when the uterus and cervix are not ready for labour (7). IOL is widely practiced to try and prevent the problems mentioned above and improve the health for women and their infants (8).…”