Maternal and neonatal outcome after the use of low dose sublingual 25 µg misoprostol for labour induction in women with term pregnancy

Abstract

Background: Aim of this study was to assess the maternal and fetal/neonatal outcome after the use of low dose (25 µg) misoprostol for labour induction in women with term pregnancy (gestational age >37 weeks POG) with a live foetus.Methods: The prospective interventional study was designed at the department of obstetrics and gynaecology of a tertiary health care hospital, with a sample size of 150 pregnant ladies who had to undergo induction of labour, were selected depending on the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data was analysed using SPSS 18. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the data. Qualitative variables were presented as frequencies and percentage.Results: About 41% (61 patients) of the total study population was in the age group of 26 to 30 years with only two patients aged >35 years of age. The study group comprised of 88 primigravida (59%) and 62 multigravida (41%). The most common indication for induction of labour in my study was post-dated pregnancy (47%) followed by PROM (22%).Conclusions: The use of low dose (25 µg) misoprostol sublingually is definitely very effective in cervical ripening and induction of labour in term pregnancies particularly in those with poor Bishops score. There was no significant neonatal or maternal morbidity associated with induction of labour with low dose sublingual misoprotol.