The rate of induced labor among U.S. pregnant women nearly doubled between 1992 and 2003 — a trend that seems to have pushed more births to the earlier end of full-term, a new study finds.
The concern is that even though newborn deaths and other complications are uncommon at weeks 37 or 38, the risks are relatively higher compared with infants born at the later end of full-term, explained senior researcher Dr. Michael S. Kramer, of McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
The findings suggest that the rising rate of induced labor is a “likely cause” of the earlier births, the researchers report in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Reuters