Earlier routine induction of labor—Consequences on mother and child morbidity

A growing number of birth interventions had led to a concern for potential health consequences. This study investigates the consequences of earlier routine labor induction. It exploits a natural experiment caused by the introduction of new Danish obstetric guidelines in 2011. Consequently, routine labor induction was moved forward from 14 to 10–13 days past the expected due date (EDD) and extended antenatal surveillance was introduced from 7 days past the EDD. Using administrative data, I find that affected mothers on average had a 9–11 percentage points (32%–38%) higher risk of being induced the following years. Yet, mother and child short- and medium-term morbidity were largely unaffected.