Elective Labor Associated with Fewer Cesarean Deliveries, Study Shows

​Inducing labor at 39 weeks did not reduce the risk of perinatal death or severe complications, but led to fewer cesarean deliveries than the use of expectant management, concludes a study published August 9, 2018, in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers assigned 3,062 women expecting low-risk delivery of their first child to labor induction and 3,044 to expectant management. Perinatal death or severe complications were more common in the expectant-management group (5.4% compared with 4.3%).