Oxytocin use and delivery outcome in women with one previous caesarean section and pre-labour rupture of the membranes at term

Abstract

SummaryA retrospective study was designed to assess the obstetric outcome in relation to oxytocin induction of labour in women with pre-labour spontaneous rupture of membranes at term, with particular reference to those women with a previous caesarean section. All five women who had had one previous caesarean section required an emergency caesarean section for failure to progress when labour was induced using oxytocin while only one out of 12 had emergency caesarean sections for failure to progress when labour started spontaneously and oxytocin was not required (P < 0.001). In women who had had no previous caesarean section, the prevalence of emergency caesarean section for failure to progress was 14 per cent when labour was induced using oxytocin and 4 per cent in cases of spontaneous onset of labour where oxytocin was not used (P < 0.05). It appears that oxytocin labour induction in cases of pre-labour spontaneous rupture of membranes and in particular in women with one previous caesarean section is ass...