EBB 393 - Evidence on Inducing at 41 Weeks or Later

Evidence Based Birth®

Rebecca Dekker

Kids & Family, Medicine, Parenting, Health & Fitness

4.3 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 April 2026

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At the 41-week mark in pregnancy, conversations and decisions about induction can start to feel more urgent and complex. In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Dekker and Dr. Sara Ailshire share why the 41st week has become such a focus in maternity care and what the evidence actually says about induction at this milestone.

They discuss elective induction versus expectant management and key findings from major studies like the INDEX and SWEPIS trials. They also talk through potential benefits and risks, including changes in stillbirth risk, newborn outcomes, and maternal experiences.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of stillbirth. Please take care while listening.

(00:05:58) How common is labor induction? U.S. rates and challenges with data accuracy

(00:09:25) Medically indicated vs. elective induction

(00:15:24) The limits of research on induction vs. expectant management

(00:20:18) The INDEX trial

(00:28:36) Follow-up observational study to INDEX: preferences, Cesarean rates, and outcomes

(00:32:51) The SWEPIS trial

(00:41:59) Impact of SWEPIS on guidelines and outcomes in Sweden

(00:44:40) Benefits of elective induction at 41 weeks

(00:46:34) Risks and potential downsides of induction

(00:49:18) FAQ: Induction and VBAC considerations

For a full list of resources and references, visit ebbirth.com/inducingduedates.

For more information about Evidence Based Birth® and a crash course on evidence based care, visit www.ebbirth.com. Follow us on Instagram and YouTube! Ready to learn more? Grab an EBB Podcast Listening Guide or read Dr. Dekker's book, "Babies Are Not Pizzas: They're Born, Not Delivered!" If you want to get involved at EBB, join our Professional membership (scholarship options available) and get on the wait list for our EBB Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the EBB Childbirth Class.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everyone. On today's podcast, we're going to talk about the evidence on inducing labor at 41 weeks or later.
0:10.9	Welcome to the evidence-based birth podcast. My name is Rebecca Decker, and I'm a nurse with my PhD and the founder of evidence-based birth.
0:19.2	Join me each week as we work together to get evidence-based
0:22.7	information into the hands of families and professionals around the world. As a reminder,
0:28.3	this information is not medical advice. See eBbirth.com slash disclaimer for more details.
0:36.7	Hi, everyone. Today, I am so excited to bring you today's podcast all about
0:41.1	the evidence on induction of labor at 41 weeks or later. So today, along with my co-host, Dr. Sara
0:47.4	Aleshire, we have a lot of brand new evidence-based information to bring to you. So Sara is a member of the EBB research team,
0:55.9	and she has come onto the podcast many times to share her research updates. And today, Dr.
1:01.9	Sara is here to talk about our latest signature article, all about the research on inductions
1:07.3	at late term and further beyond in pregnancy.
1:11.5	So this episode is a companion podcast episode to our earlier podcast on the evidence,
1:18.6	what is a due date, episode 384, which came out in January of 2026.
1:24.9	So Sara, welcome back to being a co-host on the podcast with me.
1:29.1	Hi. Thank you so much for having me back on. It's always good to be back and get on the pod
1:34.6	and talk about what we've been up to. So I'm really excited to talk about everything that we've
1:39.8	added to this article, the latest research on the topic, and to finish up our two-part series
1:46.2	about due dates and induction at 41 weeks and beyond. So we've been working on these for a really
1:50.9	long time. And now that we're recording this podcast, it means that we're at the finish line.
1:55.1	It's always a great feeling when these big projects come to an end and we get to share what
1:58.4	we've learned with everybody. Yes. And now all this
2:01.5	work that we've put into the many hours you've put in, I've been helping edit, we get to the
	...

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