The best way to predict whether the induction is going to be successful, and whether you are going to have a normal delivery is to do a vaginal examination and check the cervix for 5 different parameters, and adding them up for the Bishop score.

Doing the ‘Bishop score’ will help deciding your chances of having a vaginal delivery. A Bishop score can have a maximum of 13 and a score of 8 and higher increases your chances having a successful induction and vaginal delivery.

The 5 parameters are:

  1. Cervix Position
  2. Cervix Consistency
  3. Cervix Effacement
  4. Cervix Dilatation
  5. Fetal station

Go to our Interactive Bishop Calculator HERE

Bishop Score InductionIn most women labor begins spontaneously without anyone having to do something about it. But sometimes there are reasons why the baby should be delivered earlier before your labor begins by itself. Following are some reasons to induce labor: 

  • Abnormal fetal evaluation (e.g. iugr, low amniotic fluid)
  • Preeclampsia, Eclampsia
  • Medical conditions of the mother (e.g. diabetes, kidney disease, lung disease. chronic hypertension)
  • Rupture of fetal membranes at term
  • Infection of the placenta or fetus
  • Postdate pregnancy
  • Fetal demise
  • Abruptio placentae

Contrary to an ‘indicated induction’ an ‘elective induction’ is the induction of labor without any of these indications, but for either the woman’s or the doctor’s convenience.

Before deciding how to induce labor, your doctor will do a vaginal examination with her fingers (digital examination) and check to see if you are getting ready for labor and delivery. The cervical examination checks to see if the cervix is soft, shortened, what it’s position is and if it’s opening up and how low the fetus is in the pelvis. From this examination you doctor can then add up five factors which make up the ‘Bishop score’ to see which method to use and what the success of induction might be.

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