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22
Jun 2021
Study finds significant increase in women being induced for low-risk births
The study which was published in the journal BMJ Open, included nearly 475,000 women aged between 20 and 35 who had uncomplicated births and where the baby’s gestational age was between 37 and 41 weeks.
It found that 15 per cent of these women, who were all healthy, had an induced labour without a recorded medical indication.
The study also found significantly higher rates of medical intervention for new mothers who were induced. 71 per cent had epidurals compared to 41 per cent who were not induced, Caesarean section rates were more than twice as high – 29 per cent compared to 14 per cent, and episiotomies occurred in 41 per cent of births compared to 31 per cent.
Professor Hannah Dahlen, lead author, said the most worrying finding was that the rate of inductions among first-time mothers at 37 weeks had tripled
Professor Dahlen, a midwifery expert, went on to say “Why that worries us is because those babies potentially could have another three weeks in the mother’s uterus. Those three weeks that they miss out on in their mother’s uterus is actually really critical for brain development.”
World Health Organisation guidelines stipulate that “Induction of labour is not recommended in women with an uncomplicated pregnancy at gestational age less than 41 weeks.”
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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
Freephone : 0800 304 7382
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