Outpatient approaches to elective induction of labor: past, present, and future

Assessing the feasibility, acceptability and safety of outpatient labour induction. MEDLINE database was searched for "outpatient labor induction" from January 1, 1986 to February 28, 2013. Main outcomes of interest included hyperstimulation, cesarean births, Apgar scores <7 at 5 minutes, arterial-cord pH of <7.10, and neonatal morbidity/mortality. Overall cesarean rates vary significantly (2.6% to 42%). Hyperstimulation with CTG changes is rare. Neonatal admissions for diverse reasons are often not associated with outpatient induction agent. Overall, maternal satisfaction is high. Outpatient labor induction is feasible and important adverse events are rare. However, paucity of available data and heterogeneity of different studies make it difficult to quantify adverse events or identify a preferred induction method.