How can you induce a woman to go into labor, and why would a doctor induce someone instead of just letting them give birth whenever it happens naturally?
In: Biology
The body signals the uterus and cervix, etc., to start the process through hormones. One way of inducing labor is to inject those hormones or precursors into the pregnant woman. Another is to manipulate the amniotic sac to cause hormones to start releasing a bit more naturally.
There are two basic reasons for induction: risk to the mother and risk to the fetus. One common example is postterm pregnancy; the pregnancy has gone on too long. The bigger the baby, the more chance for the birth process to harm baby or mother or both, but that’s not the core reason. The mechanisms of pregnancy, like the placenta, aren’t designed to function forever, and will stop working, resulting in stillbirth. There are other reasons, but they’re ultimately about risk to mother baby.
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