USE OF THE FOLEY CATHETER AS A CERVICAL RIPENING AGENT PRIOR TO INDUCTION OF LABOR

Objective: To study the effect of the extraamniotic Foley catheter as a cervical ripening agent prior to induction of labor. Method: A descr iptive study was carried out on 187 patients who had labor induced fol lowing cervical ripening with the extraamniotic Foley catheter. There were 99 nulliparas and 88 multiparas whose labor outcomes were analyze d separately. Results: The mean change in the modified Bishop score wa s 3.7 for nulliparas and 3.3 for multiparas. The induction-delivery in terval was 8.7 h for nulliparas and 5.5. h for multiparas. Conclusion: The Foley catheter was found to be an effective agent for cervical ri pening in both primiparas and multiparas and its use was not associate d with any complications.