London - A method of inducing labour that dates back to the 1930s has been found to work as well as modern treatments but with fewer side effects.
Researchers tested a mechanical catheter against a hormone gel to determine which was better at starting labour in women whose pregnancies were overdue.
Both were similarly successful in helping women to have natural births rather than surgical deliveries.
But the catheter method led to fewer complications, less distress for the baby and lower infection rates in mothers, says a report published in The Lancet.
Scientists compared the gel, containing prostaglandin E2 - the most widely-used way of bringing on labour - with the Foley catheter - invented in the 1930s by an American surgeon - where a balloon is inserted into the womb and then pumped up with a saline solution to imitate the onset of labour.
The trial was conducted at 12 hospitals in the Netherlands, and involved 824 women, half of whom were induced with the catheter and the rest with the gel. Caesarean rates were similar in both groups, totalling 23 percent for the Foley catheter versus 20 percent for those using the gels.
But using the catheter reduced the number of operative deliveries caused by foetal distress, and led to significantly fewer babies being admitted to the neo-natal ward for special care, just 12 percent compared with 20 percent for those using gels.
There were just five cases of infection during labour among women in the Foley catheter group compared with 14 in the gel group.
Kitty Bloemenkamp, from Leiden University, said fewer side effects and less pain suggested “Foley catheters would be a woman’s preferential choice of labour induction.”
Patrick O’Brien, spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said: “It’s reassuring that this research shows both methods are equally effective. Women shouldn’t think they’re being offered an old-fashioned technique that’s inferior to more modern treatment.” - Daily Mail