Article on Induced Labor tied to Maternal Risk (sensitive topic)

[brittone2]

IMO another reason to avoid convenience inductions...although we all know many mamas here that have had medical need for induction. Just sharing the info, but if this is a sensitive subject for you, please just skip my post.

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/128/117185.htm

[JulieL]

Fabulous source Beth :)

[SnuggleBuggles]

Very good to know, thank you for posting it. I have been reading some debates/ thoughts on this on other boards recently too.

I think it is very important for moms to know this risk just so they can make a fully informed choice about inducing labor. Add it to knowing the risks/benefits of the drugs, methods and risks/benefits of frequently accompanying interventions and mom should be good to go. :)

Beth

[pb&j]

FWIW, they did not establish a cause and effect relationship in the study. And n=180 didn't exactly knock my socks off.


-Ry,
mom to Emma, stillborn 11/04/04
and Max, 01/05/06

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/35775.gif
http://b1.lilypie.com/aKGqm5/.png[/img] ([img)

[brittone2]

Well, not trying to say it is a definitive piece of research on the topic, but if I were contemplating a convenience induction, it is info I'd want to look into more. That's all ;)

[maestramommy]

Oh, good to know. Thanks for posting this!

[o_mom]

N=180 is the event number, not unusually low for a study of a rare event. The methods of the study were not very clear from the WebMD article. I'm waiting for a friend to send me a PDF of the original article to see how they did the study (about the only thing I regret about quitting work - loss of access to all the medical journals :-) ).

ETA: After reading the second article posted (thought still not the original), they looked at roughly 3 MILLION births and observed 180 events, so not a small study, just a very rare event.

[SnuggleBuggles]

"MONTREAL, Oct. 20 -- Amniotic-fluid embolism is a serious but rare complication of pregnancy, although the risk appears to double when labor is induced, according to researchers here.

In cases where the mother died from the embolism, which occurred in 24 of 180 total singleton deliveries out of three million, the women were 3.5 times more likely to have had induced labor than they were to have spontaneous labor, reported Michael S. Kramer, M.D., of Montreal Children's Hospital, and colleagues, in the Oct. 21 issue of The Lancet. "Although the absolute excess risk is low, women and physicians should be aware of this risk when making decisions about elective labor induction," they wrote. Other risk factors for amniotic fluid embolism were multiple pregnancy, older maternal age (35 or older), caesarean delivery or instrument-assisted vaginal delivery, eclampsia, polyhydramnios, placental abruption, placenta previa, cervical laceration, uterine rupture, and fetal distress, the authors found.

The overall rate of the complication was 14.8 per 100,000 multiple-birth deliveries, and 6.0 per 100,000 singleton deliveries. "Kramer and colleagues' study is important for the people who will be affected by this rare but deadly disease," wrote Jason Moore, M.D, assistant professor of critical care medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, in an accompanying editorial. "The researchers have identified definitively the association of medical induction of labor with amniotic fluid embolism, and delineated the small but important effect this association can have on future obstetric patients," wrote Dr. Moore. "They have also strengthened the evidence for the association of the disorder with other risk factors for which data were previously inconsistent." <SNIP> "
http://forums.obgyn.net/ob-gyn-l/OBGYNL.0610/0338.html

You can read OB thougts on the study if you go to the above forum.

Here's a link to all the stats:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy/tb/4334

They are a starting point, hopefully they will lead you to the complete study.

Beth

[o_mom]

Thanks!

I'm still waiting to read the Lancet article, but this is a much better summary.

[brittone2]

Thanks for posting this summary.