Obstetric interventions such as increases in the use of induction of labor (IOL) and use of cesarean deliveries is shifting gestational age distributions of births in the U.S. A new study, which showed that IOL and cesarean delivery are increasingly being used at 37-39 weeks of gestational age, regardless of an increase in maternal risk for interventions, is published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Women's Health. Click here to read the article now.
Ryan Masters, from the University of Colorado Boulder, and coauthors reported that between 1990 and 2017, the percent of singleton first births occurring between 37 and 39 weeks gestation increased from 38.5% to 49.5%. "The changes were driven by increases in IOL and a shift in the use of cesarean deliveries toward earlier gestations," stated the authors. "The changes were observed among all racial/ethnic groups and all maternal ages, an across all U.S. states. The same changes were also observed among U.S. women at low risk for interventions."
"The fact that these changes were observed among women at low risk for interventions implies that these interventions were elective and not increased in response to a rise in high-risk pregnancies," says Journal of Women's Health Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA. "An increase in early-term births can be problematic."
About the Journal
Journal of Women's Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. Led by Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, the Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women's healthcare issues. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women's Health website. Journal of Women's Health is the official journal of the Society for Women's Health Research.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a global media company dedicated to creating, curating, and delivering impactful peer-reviewed research and authoritative content services to advance the fields of biotechnology and the life sciences, specialized clinical medicine, and public health and policy. For complete information, please visit the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. website.
