The most common reason for labor induction is that the pregnancy has gone two weeks or more past the due date. The baby may get too big if the mother carries it this far past her due date. The baby may not be able to get enough food from inside the mother s body. They knew exactly when they were having their baby. Heumann was scheduled to be induced April 26.
Doctors use the process of induction to jump-start contractions with medication.
While many people have focused on the increased rate of births by Caesarean section, the rate of births from induced labor has doubled nationally in the past decade. Heumann represents one out of every five expectant mothers in the nation s hospitals who is scheduled for induct labor. In the Coachella Valley, Eisenhower Medical Center has the highest rate of induced births. One in every four expectant mothers is scheduled for an induction there. Both Desert Regional Medical Center and John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital have induced-labor rates hovering around 7 percent to 8 percent, according to the most recent figures.