Less Is More: For Double-Balloon Cervical Ripening, 6 Hours Was Better Than 12 Hours

Shorter duration of cervical ripening resulted in shorter time to delivery and lower incidence of intrapartum fever.

Compared with expectant management, induction of labor at 39 weeks of gestation has been associated with lower rates of cesarean delivery (NEJM JW Womens Health Sep 2018 and N Engl J Med 2018; 379:513), an outcome that has led to an increase in rates of induction at 39 weeks. At this gestation, the cervix is often long and closed, a finding unfavorable with initiating induction; thus, cervical ripening with a double-balloon catheter for 12 hours is commonly employed. To investigate the efficacy of shorter-duration ripening, investigators in Israel studied labor outcomes following randomization of 243 nulliparous and parous women undergoing labor induction to 6 or 12 hours of double-balloon catheter cervical ripening.

Among the nulliparous wo…

Reviewing Author

Robert L. Barbieri, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Robert L. Barbieri, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Less Is More: For Double-Balloon Cervical Ripening, 6 Hours Was Better Than 12 Hours

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Reviewing Author