Don't Short-Change Your Baby By Inducing Labor

I read this column on MSNBC today, about why women should not choose to induce labor in their final weeks of pregnancy. The author refers to a recent study that details the complications that come with late preterm births, including respiratory distress and difficulty sucking and swallowing.

I agree with the column, but I would add that the dangers of induction do not end at 40 weeks or the "due date" your doctor wrote in your medical file. Just because some babies are born around 40 weeks does not mean every baby is ready to be born at 40 weeks. Why induce at 40 weeks if you would not induce at 38?

Here are some good comments from Judith A. Lothian in the Journal of Perinatal Education:

Thinking of, and clinging to, the “due date” as “the day” makes it difficult for women to trust nature's beautiful plan for the end of pregnancy and the start of labor. What women rarely know, and what people tend to forget, is that some variation exists in how long it takes for an individual baby to mature fully. Acknowledging that babies can safely come 2 weeks before or 2 weeks after the due date does not tell the whole story. Some babies are mature as early as 37 weeks (259 days), and others need 42 completed weeks (294 days) and sometimes a bit more to be fully ready. Size is not an indication of maturity, and the due date is only a guideline.

She notes that "Waiting for labor to start spontaneously is almost always the best way to know that the baby is ready to be born and that a woman's body is ready for labor." Read her article for more details about the risks of induction: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1595289/