Mifepristone for cervical ripening and induction of labour

Objective: To study the efficacy of oral mifepristone in pre induction cervical ripening and induction of labour in term pregnancy. Materials and Methods: This is a single blind randomised control trial. 200 women with term pregnancy and bishop score < 6 were recruited and randomly allocated into two groups. Women who received tablet mifepristone 400 mg were assigned to study group (n=100) and who received placebo orally were assigned to control group (n=100). At the end of 48 hours, change in the bishop was assessed and accordingly induction/ augmentation of labour was done. Analysis regarding safety and efficacy of the drug was done with regards to maternal and perinatal outcome. Results: Among 200 women, 100 received mifepristone and 100 received placebo. In mifepristone group, 75% patients entered into labour within 48 hours of induction as compared to 48% in placebo group. The mean time interval between induction to start of labour pains was 28 hours 54 min in group A and 42 hours 18 min in group B. This difference was statistically significant. (p=0.000). In the study group 70% patients delivered within 48 hours of treatment as compared to 38% patients in control group. Mean induction delivery interval was 35 hours 38 min in study group and 49 hours 52 min in control group (p=0.000). There were fewer caesareans in the mifepristone treated group (10%) than placebo group (20%) particularly for failed induction (2 versus 6) and non progress of labour (2 versus 5). There was no statistically significant different in perinatal outcome between two groups. Conclusion: Mifepristone has modest affect on cervical repining when given 48 hour prior to labour induction and appears to reduce need for further induction compared to placebo. Mifepristone is a simple and effective method of inducing labour in women with term pregnancy and unripe cervix. The use of Mifepristone provides an interesting new alternative to classic uterotonic agents when induction of labour is neces