Effectiveness of sweeping of membranes in reducing the incidence of elective induction of labor for postdate pregnancies

Introduction: Prolonged pregnancy is a high-risk pregnancy that is associated with increased maternal morbidity and increased perinatal morbidity and mortality. Objectives: The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of sweeping of the fetal membranes to reduce the incidence of elective induction of labor for postdate pregnancy and to compare pregnancy outcome among women who had sweeping of membranes at 40 weeks with those who did not have sweeping of membranes. Subjects and Methods: This was a randomized, controlled study conducted from September 2017 to June 2018. One hundred and ninety-four consenting participants with no contraindication to vaginal delivery were randomized into two groups, those who had membrane sweeping at 40–41 weeks' gestation and a control group who had vaginal examination to assess Bishop score only at recruitment. Participants were followed up to delivery. Results: Sweeping of membranes effectively reduced the incidence of elective induction of labor. The proportion of those that had spontaneous labor in the treatment group was 85 (87.6%) compared to the control group that had 67 (62.9%). This was statistically significant with P < 0.001. The incidence of induction of labor was significantly lower in the membrane sweeping group compared with the control group (12.4% vs. 37.1%; P < 0.001). There was a significant higher mean time interval from recruitment to admission (recruitment admission interval) among the control group (5.76 ± 2.75 days) compared with those that had membrane sweeping (3.35 ± 2.55; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Sweeping of the membranes appears an effective and safe procedure in reducing the incidence of elective induction of labor and duration of pregnancy at term in low-risk population.