Induction of term labor with intravenous prostaglandin F2alpha (a comparison of two dosage schedules).

The efficacy of intravenous Prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) infusion for induction of labor in two different dosage schedules was studied in 90 women between 36 and 43 weeks of gestation. The rate of PGF2alpha infusion was increased at four-hour intervals in 36 women in the low dosage group and every hour in 54 women in the high dosage group, never exceeding an infusion rate of 20 mug/min. in either group. Labor was successfully induced in approximately 90% of the patients in each group. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean induction-delivery interval between the two groups at the 5 percent level. Intravenous PGF2alpha was found to be effective and safe for both mother and infant in the dosage schedules used in this study for induction of labor.