Society guideline links: Cervical ripening and labor induction

Introduction — 

This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

Links to related guidelines are provided separately. (See "Society guideline links: Labor".)

International

●International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO): Good practice recommendations for induced or spontaneous labor at term – Prep-for-Labor triage to minimize risks and maximize favorable outcomes (2023)

●FIGO: Prep-for-Labor – Overview of labor and delivery triage bundles of care to optimize maternal and newborn outcomes (2023)

●World Health Organization (WHO): Recommendations on induction of labour, at or beyond term (2022)

●WHO: Recommendations on mechanical methods for induction of labour (2022)

●WHO: Recommendations on outpatient settings for induction of labour (2022)

Canada

●Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC): Clinical practice guideline on cervical ripening (2023)

●SOGC: Clinical practice guideline on cervical ripening and induction of labour – General information (2023)

●SOGC: Clinical practice guideline on induction of labour (2023)

United States

●American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP): Choosing Wisely – Elective, non-medically indicated inductions of labor or cesarean deliveries before 39 weeks

●American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Committee opinion on labor induction or augmentation and autism (2014, reaffirmed 2025)

●ACOG: Management of full-term nulliparous individuals without a medical indication for delivery, clinical practice update (2025)

•ACOG: Practice bulletin for the management of late-term and postterm pregnancies (2014)

●ACOG: Committee opinion on approaches to limit intervention during labor and birth (2019, reaffirmed 2021)

●ACOG and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM): Committee opinion on the avoidance of nonmedically indicated early-term deliveries and associated neonatal morbidities (2019, reaffirmed 2021)

●Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN): Practice monograph on cervical ripening and labor induction and augmentation, 5th edition (2020)

●AWHONN: Position statement on elective induction of labor (2019)

●SMFM: Statement on elective induction of labor in low-risk nulliparous women at term – The ARRIVE trial (2019)

●American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM): Position statement on induction of labor (2010, revised 2016)

●ACOG: Practice bulletin on induction of labor (2009)

Europe

●European Association of Perinatal Medicine (EAPM): European guidelines on perinatal care – Oxytocin for induction and augmentation of labor (2022)

United Kingdom

●Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG): Scientific impact paper for evaluating misoprostol and mechanical methods for induction of labour (2022)

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Guideline on inducing labour (2021)

●NICE: Quality standard on inducing labour (2014, updated 2021)

●NICE: Interventional procedures guidance on insertion of a double balloon catheter for induction of labour in pregnant women without previous caesarean section (2015)

Australia–New Zealand

●New South Wales Ministry of Health (NSW Health): Induction of labour (2025)

●Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG): Clinical guidance statement on the use of prostaglandins for induction of labour (2019, updated 2023)

Japan

●[In Japanese] Japan Academy of Midwifery (JAM): Evidence-based midwifery guidelines – Pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (2024)

●[In Japanese] Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (JSOG) and Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (JAOG): Obstetrics and gynecology clinical practice guidelines – Obstetrics edition (2023)