Hot Topic Thesis Statement

More strict policies need to be established and reinforced regarding guidelines for labor induction by medication in order to decrease the rate of labor inductions currently performed and to avoid the potential risks it carries, which often time outweigh the benefits.

Professional Genre

Blustain, S. (2007). Modern childbirth: Failure to progress.  The Women’s Review of Books,

                24(4), 3-5.  Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/stable/20476610

                In one of the biggest studies of its kind in 2005, it became evident that women who gave birth at home needed fewer interventions than those that were induced or who labored in the hospital.  Modern obstetrics has transformed childbirth into a process that is actively managed where every last aspect is attempted to be controlled but often times interventions are not necessary for a healthy baby. 

Ramsey,P.S. (2000).  Labor induction.  Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 12(6),

               463-473. doi: 10.1097/00001703-200012000-00002

            With such a marked increase in labor inductions, success of induction depends largely on the favorability of the cervix prior to induction.  An unfavorable cervix can lead to prolonged labor, prolonged hospitalization, induction failure, and an increase in cesarean section.  It is necessary to advance our knowledge of parturition and cervical ripening in order to better understand the mechanisms of labor and to direct interventions for labor induction.

Simpson, K.R.  (2007).   Elective labor induction.  MCN, the American Journal of

                Maternal/Child Nursing, 32(6).  doi: 10.1097/01.NMC.0000298147.02560.eb

T             The increase in elective inductions has profoundly changed the role of the labor and delivery nurse over the years, moving from management of the client with spontaneous labor to the management of administering Oxytocin and the side effects it carries.  More education needs to be provided to pregnant women so that they have enough information to make informed decisions about labor induction. 

Spong, C.Y. (2011).  Failed labor induction.  Obstetrics & Gynecology, 117(2), 267-272.  doi:

            10.1097/AOG.0b013e318207887a

            To date, no definitive definition of a ”failed labor induction.”  Outcomes of labor induction have been analyzed and it has been concluded that during the latent stage of labor, induction is not a failure until Oxytocin has been administered for twelve hours after the rupture of the membranes. 

Popular Audience

  The popular audience seeking information about labor induction includes the general population, more specifically clients that are pregnant women wanting to learn about induction but have no medical background, or the friends and families of clients that want to know more as well.  If the audience is researching the specific drugs that are used to induce labor, i.e. Cytotec, Pitocin ,etc. than they may have some knowledge of how labor is induced but they want to know more, such as risks and complications, why doctors induce patients, and what being induced really entails.  If the audience is patients that are going to be induced than they may want to find out how completely safe it is and that it is medically necessary.  The popular genre supports various views on labor induction depending on the authors of the information, for example a doula writing a blog on google may be completely against labor induction, whereas another site on google such as Wikipedia may support using medicaiton to induce labor or make it seem simple.  If the labor induction process is described in simple terms than the general public willl be able to understand it, but sometimes putting things simply takes away from the real issues that it poses.