The risk of cesarean delivery after labor induction among women with prior pregnancy complications: a subgroup analysis of the AFFIRM study

Abstract Background To determine the risk of cesarean delivery after labor induction among patients with prior placenta-mediated pregnancy complications (pre-eclampsia, late pregnancy loss, placental abruption or intrauterine growth restriction). Methods The AFFIRM database includes patient level da...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Leslie Skeith, Grégoire Le Gal, Johanna I. P. de Vries, Saskia Middeldorp, Mariëtte Goddijn, Risto Kaaja, Jean-Christophe Gris, Ida Martinelli, Ekkehard Schleußner, David Petroff, Nicole Langlois, Marc A. Rodger, for the AFFIRM investigators
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2019-11-01
Series:BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-019-2615-x
Description
Summary:Abstract Background To determine the risk of cesarean delivery after labor induction among patients with prior placenta-mediated pregnancy complications (pre-eclampsia, late pregnancy loss, placental abruption or intrauterine growth restriction). Methods The AFFIRM database includes patient level data from 9 randomized controlled trials that evaluated the role of LMWH versus no LMWH during pregnancy to prevent recurrent placenta-mediated pregnancy complications. The primary outcome of this sub-study was the proportion of women who had an unplanned cesarean delivery after induction of labor compared to after spontaneous labor. Results There were 512 patients from 7 randomized trials included in our sub-study. There was no difference in the risk of cesarean delivery between women with labor induction (21/148, 14.2%) and spontaneous labor (79/364, 21.7%) (odds ratio (OR) 0.60, 95% CI, 0.35–1.01; p = 0.052). Among 274 women who used LMWH prophylaxis during pregnancy, the risk of cesarean delivery was lower among those that underwent labor induction (9.8%) compared to spontaneous labor (22.4%) (OR 0.38, 95% CI, 0.17–0.84; p = 0.01). Conclusions The risk of cesarean delivery is not increased after labor induction among a higher risk patient population with prior pregnancy complications. Our results suggest that women who receive LMWH during pregnancy might benefit from labor induction.
ISSN:1471-2393