Outpatient Cervical Ripening Provides a Timely Advantage

For women undergoing induction of labor, cervical ripening is common prior to initiation of intravenous oxytocin. An intracervical balloon helps to ripen the cervix by stretching it and by stimulating production of prostaglandins. Is this strategy effective in the outpatient setting? Investigators studied the time from admission to delivery for outpatient versus inpatient cervical ripening in 126 nulliparous women with singleton pregnancies at 39 weeks' gestation who were scheduled for an induction of labor. Participants were randomized to cervical ripening with a 16-French Foley catheter as an outpatient (with admission to the labor unit the following day) or to direct admission as an inpatient following placement of the catheter.

Time from…