Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Capstone

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Physician Assistant Studies

Committee Chair

Trey Boyd

Abstract

Introduction: Postterm pregnancy is associated with increased morbidity and mortality of infant and mother. Current practice varies in the management of late- and postterm pregnancies, with much discussion surrounding the risks and benefits of the intervention options provided to pregnant patients. This study aims to review literature comparing the effectiveness of induction of labor (IOL) with elective management (EM) in reducing adverse perinatal and maternal outcomes for pregnant patients approaching postterm.

Methods: A literature search was performed on PubMed using key terms “late term pregnancy,” “induction of labor,” and “expectant management.” Operators and additional search filters narrowed results to 4 eligible articles for review.

Results: One article directly compared IOL at 41 0/7 weeks with EM. Three articles were meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials which compared IOL with EM. Reported primary outcomes included perinatal morbidity and mortality and delivery outcomes. Secondary outcomes included maternal morbidity and mortality.

Discussion: This review found that labor induction of pregnancies approaching postterm overall reduces the risk of perinatal morbidity and mortality when compared to EM. However, when compared with EM, IOL does not appear to reduce the risk of maternal morbidity and mortality. Further investigation among this important patient population of postterm pregnancies is needed in order to provide tailored recommendations for labor induction.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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