References

Ahn MO, Phelan HP Epidemiologic aspects of the postdates pregnancy. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 1989; 32:(2)228-34

Washington: ACOG; 2005

Annadale E How midwives accomplish natural birth: managing risk and balancing expectations. Social Problems. 1988; 35:(2)95-110

Anderson T The misleading myth of choice: the continuing oppression of women in childbirth. In: Kirkham M (ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan; 2004

Basket TF, Nagele F Naegele's rule: a reappraisal. BJOG. 2000; 107:(11)1433-5

Baston HA, Green JM Have women become more willing to accept obstetric interventions and does this relate to mode of birth? Data from a prospective study. Birth. 2007; 34:(1)6-13

Beauchamp T, Childress J, 5th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2001

Beck ULondon: Sage; 1992

Bekker H, Thornton JG, Airey CM, Connelly JB, Hewison J, Robinson MB Informed decision making: an annotated bibliography and systematic review. Health Technology Assessment. 1999; 3:(1)

Beech B Choice – an abused concept that is past its sell-by date. AIMS Journal. 2005; 17:(4)

Bergsjø P, Denman DW, Hoffman HJ, Meirik O Duration of human singleton pregnancy: a population based study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1990; 69:(3)197-207

Bernischke K, Kaufman P Pathology of Human Placenta. 2000;

Bowlby JNew York: Basic Books; 1988

Bramadat IJ Induction of labor: an integrated review. Health Care for Women International. 1994; 15:(2)135-48

Bryers HM, Teijlingen MA Risk, theory, social and medical models: a critical analysis of the concept of risk in maternity care. Midwifery. 2010; 26:(5)488-96

Chalmers B Psychological aspects of pregnancy: some thoughts for the eighties. Soc Sci Med. 1982; 16:(3)323-31

Clarke RA Midwives, their employers and the UKCC: an eternally unethical triangle. Nursing Ethics. 1995; 2:(3)247-53

Cody WK Paternalism in nursing and health-care: central issues and their relation to theory. Nurs Sci Q. 2003; 16:(4)288-96

Conrad P Medicalization and social control. Annu Rev Sociol. 1992; 18:209-32

Cronk M The midwife: a professional servant?. In: Kirkham M (ed.). London: Macmillan Press; 2000

Dagustun J Beware the dead baby card. AIMS Journal. 2012; 24:(3)

Dahlen H Undone by fear? Deluded by trust?. Midwifery. 2009; 26:156-62

Davis D Spoilt for choice: consuming maternity care. British Journal of Midwifery. 2003; 11:574-8

Davis-Floyd RE The technocratic body: American childbirth as cultural expression. Soc Sci Med. 1994; 38:(8)1125-40

Davis-Floyd R Birth as an American Rite of Passage, 2nd edn.. London: University of California Press; 2003

Declerq E, Sakala C, Corry M, Applebaum S Listening to Mothers II: Report of the Second National US Survey Of Women's Childbearing Experiences. 2006;

London: HMSO; 1993

London: DH; 2004

London: DH; 2007

, Second edition. London: DH; 2009

London: DH; 2010

Duff C, Sinclair M Exploring the risks associated with induction of labour: a retrospective study using the NIMATS database. J Adv Nurs. 2000; 31:(2)410-7

Edwards NP Why can't women just say no? And does it really matter?. In: Kirkham M (ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan; 2004

Fleissig A Mothers' experiences of induction of labour. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 1991; 11:(1)S11-5

Foster IR, Lasser JLondon: Jones & Bartlett Publishers; 2011

Goldberg H Informed decision making in maternity care. J Perinat Educ. 2009; 18:(1)32-40

Green JM, Baston HA Feeling in control during labour: concepts, correlates and consequences. Birth. 2003; 30:(4)235-47

Green JM, Coupland VA, Kitzinger JV: Child Care and Development Unit, University oF Cambridge; 1988

Griffith R, Tengnah C, Patel CPadstow: Learning Matters Ltd; 2010

Grimes DA, Snively GR Patients' understanding of medical risks: implications for generic counselling and research. Obstet Gynecol. 1999; 93:(6)910-4

Guadagnoli E, Ward P Patient participation in decisionmaking. Soc Sci Med. 1988; 47:(3)329-39

Hall WA, Tomkinson J, Tomkinson MCK Canadian care providers' and pregnant women's approaches to managing birth: minimizing risk while maximizing integrity. Qual Health Res. 2011; 22:(5)575-86

Handwerker L Medical risk: implicating poor pregnant women. Soc Sci Med. 1994; 38:(5)665-75

Harrison MJ, Kushner KE, Benzies K, Rempel G, Kimak C Women's satisfaction with their involvement in health care decisions during a high-risk pregnancy. Birth. 2003; 30:(2)109-15

Hart G A timely birth. Midwifery Today. 2004; 72:10-4

Hayes M On the epistemology of risk: language, logic and social science. Soc Sci Med. 1992; 35:401-7

Heimstad R, Romunstad PR, Hyett J, Mattsson LA, Salvesen KA Women's experiences and attitudes towards expectant management and induction of labour for postterm pregnancy. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2007; 86:(8)950-6

Henrikson TB, Wilcox AJ, Hedegaard M, Secher NJ Bias in studies of preterm and postterm delivery due to ultrasound assessment of gestational age. Epidemiology. 1995; 6:533-7

Hutchinson SA Responsible subversion: a study of rule-bending among nurses. Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice. 1990; 4:(1)3-17

International Confederation of Midwives. 2003. http://tinyurl.com/nze8vsu (accessed 12 March 2014)

Jacoby A, Cartwright A Finding out about the views and experiences of maternity services users. In: Garcia J, Kilpatrick R, Richards M (eds.). Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1990

Jamieson L Midwife empowerment through education. British Journal of Midwifery. 1994; 12:(2)47-8

Jomeen J, Martin CR The impact of choice of maternity care on psychological health outcomes for women during pregnancy and the postnatal period. J Eval Clin Pract. 2008; 14:(3)391-8

Jordan B Authoritative knowledge and its construction. In: Davis-Floyd R, Sargent C (eds.). Berkeley: University of California Press; 1997

Jukic AM, Baird DD, Weinberg CR, McConnaughey DR, Wilcox AJ Length of human pregnancy and contributors to its natural variation. Human Reproduction. 2013; 28:(10)2848-55

Kirkham M The culture of midwifery in the National Health Service in England. J Adv Nurs. 1999; 30:(3)732-9

Kirkham M, Stapleton H The culture of the maternity services in Wales and England as a barrier to informed choice. In: Kirkham M (ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan; 2004

Kitzinger SLondon: Routledge; 2006

Klein S The science of happiness.New York: Avalon; 2002

Kukla ROxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 2005

Leap N Making sense of ‘horizontal violence’ in midwifery. British Journal of Midwifery. 1997; 5:(11)

Leap N The less we do, the more we give. In: Kirkham M (ed.). London: Macmillan Press; 2000

Levy V Protective steering: a grounded theory study of the process by which midwives facilitate informed choices during pregnancy. J Adv Nurs. 1998b; 29:(1)104-12

Lloyd A The extent of patients' understanding of the risk of treatments. Qual Health Care. 2001; 10:i14-8

Lupton DLondon: Routledge; 1999

Lyerly AD Risks, values, and decision-making in pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol. 2007; 109:(4)979-84

Mallardi V The origin of informed consent. Acta Otorhinolaryngologica Italica. 2005; 25:(5)312-27

Mander R Who chooses the choices?. Modern Midwife. 1993; 3:(1)23-5

Mander R, Melender H Choice in maternity: rhetoric, reality and resistance. Midwifery. 2009; 25:637-48

Mannino F Neonatal complications of postterm gestation. J Reprod Med. 1988; 33:(3)271-6

Marteau TM, Dormandy E, Mitchie S A measure of informed choice. Health Expectations. 2001; 4:99-108

Melender HL Experiences of fears associated with pregnancy and birth: a study of 329 pregnant women. Birth. 2002; 29:101-11

Menticoglou SM, Hall PF Routine induction of labour at 41 weeks gestation: nonsensus consensus. BJOG. 2002; 109:485-91

Murphy-Lawless J Piggy in the middle: the midwife's role in achieving women-controlled childbirth. Irish Journal of Psychology. 1991; 12:(2)198-215

Murtagh M, Folan M Women's experiences of induction of labour for post-date pregnancy. BJM. 2014; 22:(2)105-10

London: RCOG; 2008

Nautila M, Halmesmaki E, Hiilesmaa V, Ylikorkala O Women's anticipations of experiences with induction of labour. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1999; 78:704-9

London: HMSO; 1996

NHS Choices. 2012. http://tinyurl.com/nsu7fpk (accessed 19 May 2014)

NHS Litigation Authority. 2012. http://tinyurl.com/ndnugeb (accessed 19 May 2014)

London: NMC; 2008

Oakley ALondon: Basil Blackwell; 1984

Oakley ACambridge: Polity Press; 2000

Oberman M Mothers and doctors' orders: unmasking the doctor's fiduciary role in fetal-maternal conflicts. Northwestern University Law Review. 2000; 94:(2)451-501

O'Cathain A, Thomas K, Walters SJ, Nicholl J, Kirkham M Women's perception of informed choice in maternity care. Midwifery. 2002; 18:136-44

Out JJ, Veirhout ME, Verhage F, Duivenvoorden HJ, Wallenburg HCS Elective induction of labour: a prospective clinical study. II. Psychological effects. J Perinatal Medicine. 1985; 13:163-70

Roberts LJ, Young KR The management of prolonged pregnancy – an analysis of women's attitudes before and after term. BJOG. 1991; 98:(11)1102-6

Royal College of Midwives. 2005. http://tinyurl.com/qhpohor (accessed 19 May 2014)

Royal College of Midwives. Practice Guidelines. 2008. http://tinyurl.com/ov6fvwn (accessed 19 May 2014)

London: RCOG; 2001

London: RCOG; 2008

Salmon P, Drew NC Multidimensional assessment of women's experience of childbirth: relationship to obstetric procedure, antenatal history and obstetric history. J Psychosom Res. 1992; 36:(4)317-27

Sandall J Occupational burnout in midwives: new ways of working and the relationship between organisational factors and psychological health and well-being. Risk Decision and Policy. 1998; 3

Savage WLondon: Virago Press; 1986

Schore ANew York: WW Norton & Company; 2003

Shetty A, Burt R, Rice P, Templeton A Women's perceptions, expectations and satisfaction with induced labour – a questionnaire-based study. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2005; 123:56-61

Silverman WA The myth of informed consent: in daily practice and in clinical trials. J Med Ethics. 1989; 15:(1)6-11

Singh D, Newburn M, Smith N, Wiggins M The information needs of first-time mothers. British Journal of Midwifery. 2002; 10:(1)54-8

Shy KK Antenatal testing and candid reassurance. Birth. 1991; 18

Spaeth GL Informed choice versus informed consent. Hektoen International. 2010; 2:(2)

Spurgeon P, Hicks C, Barwell F Antenatal, delivery and postnatal comparisons of maternal satisfaction with two pilot Changing Childbirth schemes compared with a traditional model of care. Midwifery. 2001; 17:(2)123-32

Smith GC Life-table analysis of the risk of perinatal death at term and post-term in singleton pregnancies. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2001; 184:(3)489-96

Stahl K, Hundley V Risk and risk assessment in pregnancy – do we scare because we care?. Midwifery. 2003; 10:298-309

Stewart P Patient attitudes to induction and labour. BMJ. 1977; 2:749-52

Stewart M Whose evidence counts? An exploration of health professionals' perceptions of evidence-based practice, focusing on the maternity services. Midwifery. 2001; 1:279-88

Strasser T, Gallagher J The ethics of health communication. World Health Forum. 1994; 15:175-7

SzureK J Resistance to technology-enhanced childbirth in Tuscany. In: Davis-Floyd R, Sargent CF (eds.). LA: University of California Press; 1997

2012. http://tinyurl.com/ppbx57p (accessed 19 May 2014)

Verny TNew York: Simon & Schuster; 2002

Vorherr H Placental insufficiency in relation to postterm pregnancy and fetal postmaturity. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1975; 123:(1)67-103

Wagner M Midwives and Cytotec: a true story. Midwifery Today. 2001; 57

Walsh D, Newburn M Professional issues. Towards a social model of childbirth. BJM. 2002; 10:476-81

Walsh DAbingdon: Routledge; 2007

Welsh Assembly Government. 2008. http://tinyurl.com/qf2tnr8 (accessed 19 May 2014)

Cardiff: Knowledge And Analytical Services, Welsh Government; 2012

Westfall RE, Benoit C The rhetoric of ‘natural’ in natural childbirth: childbearing women's perspectives on prolonged pregnancy and induction of labour. Soc Sci Med. 2004; 59:(7)1397-408

Wickham SLondon: Elsevier; 2006

Wittmann-Price RA Emancipation in decision-making in women's health care. J Adv Nurs. 2004; 47:(4)437-45

Appropriate Technology for Birth. Lancet. 1985; 326:(8452)436-7

Induction of labour for post-term pregnancy

02 June 2014
Volume 22 · Issue 6

Abstract

There has been a shift in healthcare philosophy in recent decades beyond simple requirement of client consent to treatment towards a more intricate notion of informed choice. Debate continues as to whether advocacy of shared decision-making in maternity care is more rhetoric or reality. In the context of management of so-called ‘prolonged’ pregnancy, the scope and authenticity of informed choice withers under scrutiny. It is considered that induction of labour at this juncture in pregnancy has become routinised, affecting an illusion of safety and depressing maternal stimulus to exercise choice. The offer of induction for advanced gestation has thus acquired normative power. Observation during clinical practice has revealed that there may be ethical failings in risk communication, manifested in data manipulation and scaremongering. However, a culture of powerlessness constrains midwives and compels them to seize the risk agenda and adopt the ‘medical standard’ for this common intervention.

Recent decades have seen a theoretical power shift from clinician authority to user autonomy alongside a public and political movement emphasising personal choice and control in relation to maternity care (Department of Health (DH), 1993; NHS Executive, 1996). A new language and philosophy continues to resonate in current UK reports and policy documents, which advocate a humanistic, woman-focused service and promote childbearing women as active consumers and decision-makers (DH, 2004; DH, 2007; DH, 2010). The contemporary approach to care appears to revoke the traditional paternalistic biomedical model, which prioritised the physical aspects of pregnancy and assigned ‘patient’ status to the childbearing woman.

Research on childbirth indicates that women's participation in healthcare decisions is strongly associated with feelings of trust (Levy, 1998a), lower levels of fear (Melender, 2002; Green and Baston, 2003), increased responsibility for health of self and baby (Harrison et al, 2003), improved self-esteem and lower incidence of postnatal depressive symptoms (Chalmers, 1982; Jomeen and Martin, 2008), shorter recovery periods (Green et al, 1988) and more favourable maternal feelings towards the newborn, as well as improvements in the child's long-term health and wellbeing (Bowlby, 1988; Schore, 2003; Verny, 2002).

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting British Journal of Midwifery and reading some of our peer-reviewed resources for midwives. To read more, please register today. You’ll enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included

  • Limited access to our clinical or professional articles

  • New content and clinical newsletter updates each month