Choosing to induce labour at 39 weeks has been found to reduce the rates of emergency Caesarean deliveries, as well as lowering maternal and fetal complications.

Inducing labour has been thought to increase the rate of C-sections, but a study of over 6,100 women from across the USA suggests that inducing at 39 weeks of pregnancy lowers the rate of emergency C-sections by 3 percentage points, down to 19 per cent of deliveries.

Women in the study who had inductions also reported experiencing less pain in labour, and a greater sense of control over …