Induction of labor with oral prostaglandin E2 tablets in high-parity patients

Labor was induced with two low-dose regimens of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) tablets in 46 high-parity women at term who had singleton pregnancies with a success rate of 97.8%. Of the successfully induced patients, 42 had vaginal delivery and three were delivered by cesarean section for cephalopelvic disproportion. There was one failure of induction. Both dose regimens (0.5 mg and 0.75 mg hourly) were equally effective in inducing labor. The pattern of labor and mean induction-delivery interval of 5.8 h was similar to a comparable group of high-parity patients with spontaneous labor. It appears from this study that induction of labor with PGE2 tablets is safe in high-parity patients.