Intra-cervical Foley Balloon Catheter Versus Prostaglandins for the Induction of Labour: A Literature Review

Labour induction involves helping a woman to start her labour, before labour begins on its own, for a vaginal birth with the aid of artificial methods, such as medications or other medical techniques. Labour induction is done in cases where extending the pregnancy can threaten the mother or her baby's health, and delivery should result in better outcomes than continuing the pregnancy. Currently, nearly 25% of babies are born by labour induction in economically developed countries. It is often necessary in certain situations to induce labour by using ripening techniques that not only soften the cervix but also make it thin and dilated. Mechanical or pharmacological approaches are used for the artificial induction of labour. Because research articles evaluating the safety and efficacy of various ripening techniques of the cervix vary in terms of their findings, it remains uncertain as to which is the best way to induce labour. In light of this, to find out the most popular interventions for ripening of the cervix during labour induction, we performed a review of the literature that compares the use of a Foley catheter and prostaglandins (misoprostol and dinoprostone). Our findings show that using misoprostol orally is much better than using it vaginally. Foley catheter proved to be the least effective induction technique, despite the fact that it offers the lowest risk.