CHOICE Plus V1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Inducing labour in the CHOICE study: exploring variation in practice, induction methods and prediction of success (CHOICE plus)
IRAS ID
329186
Contact name
Mairead Black
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Aberdeen
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 27 days
Research summary
This study sets out to answer the following questions:
Q1. How does artificially starting (induction of) labour (IOL) practice vary across 26 UK NHS maternity units? E.g. how do rates, reasons for IOL, stage of pregnancy at IOL, methods used and outcomes of IOL compare across hospitals?
Q2. Do mechanical methods to open the neck of the womb (cervix) during IOL lead to the same labour progress following releasing of amniotic fluid as medication-based methods?
Q3. Does the length of time between commencing the opening of the cervix and releasing the amniotic fluid affect the progress in labour and likelihood of vaginal birth?
Q4. How well do existing prediction models for success of IOL perform in a UK population?
Methods: Data from the NIHR-funded UK CHOICE cohort study database will be utilised for this work.
To answer Q1. IOL rates will be calculated for each maternity unit as a proportion of all births and compared across units. The methods used for opening the cervix, the vaginal birth rate and the rate of admission of babies to a neonatal unit for additional care will be compared across units.
To answer Q2: Women who had mechanical methods to open the cervix will be compared with similar women who underwent this using medication-based methods. Graphs show how much the cervix opens over time in each group.
To answer Q3: Length of time from commencing opening of the cervix to releasing amniotic fluid will be calculated for all women having IOL. Any link between this duration and 1) subsequent labour progress rate 2) vaginal birth and 3) baby’s condition at birth will be reported separately for mechanical and medication-based methods.
To answer Q4: Existing tools which predict chance of vaginal birth after IOL will tested in the CHOICE study data.REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
24/NS/0097
Date of REC Opinion
4 Aug 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion