Methods of induction and augmentation of labor in a freestanding birth center: a cross-sectional study.
Gisele Almeida Lopes, Thais Trevisan Teixeira, Nathalie Leister and 1 others
PMID 38324551WHAT IT FOUND
In one birth center, 61.3% of women received no induction or augmentation method.
Traditional Chinese medicine was the most used method, oxytocin the least, and amniotomy was associated with transfer.
Key findings
01In this birth center, 61.3% of women used no induction or augmentation method; traditional Chinese medicine was the most used method at 14.7%, and oxytocin was the least used at 5.1%.
02Longer time with ruptured membranes was associated with use of more natural methods, and 54% of women who received oxytocin also received another induction or augmentation method.
03Amniotomy was associated with maternal transfer, while oxytocin did not show a significant difference with postpartum hemorrhage or maternal transfer.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done in one freestanding birth center in São Paulo, so its methods and transfer practices may not match other services. Data came from records and birth books, so missing or incorrect entries could bias the results. When more than one method was used, the study could not reliably determine the order in which methods were used. The design describes use and associations, not effectiveness, so it cannot show that tea, massage, castor oil, or traditional Chinese medicine worked. Amniotomy was associated with transfer, but the study cannot prove amniotomy caused the transfer.
Declared interests
Financial support was provided in part by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES), Finance Code 001.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that tea, castor oil, massage, or traditional Chinese medicine are effective ways to induce or augment labor. This study describes how often they were used and does not show that they worked.