Public data reporting could help lower induced-labor rate

More hospitals are expected to crack down on inducing labor as they prepare for new Joint Commission reporting requirements that take effect in Spring 2010. 

Although the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has long discouraged elective deliveries before the 39th week of pregnancy, such induced labor is on the rise. In fact, labor is induced in more than one in five births, double the rate in 1990, the Associated Press reports.

Peer pressure could help bring these numbers down this spring, when the Joint Commission begins requiring hospitals to report the gestational age of all elective deliveries to its public database. Hospitals also will have to report cesareans for first-time mothers, which often results from a failed induction, the AP reports.

To learn more:
- read the Associated Press article

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