Trends and issues in labor induction in the United States: implications for clinical practice.

The labor induction rate is at an all-time high in the United States. Although induction of labor is recommended as a therapeutic option only when the benefits of expeditious birth outweigh the risks of continuing the pregnancy, a "psychosocial indication" has become a common rationale for elective induction in the United States. It is unlikely that all women are provided with a complete discussion of the cascade of interventions that frequently accompany labor induction and the risks of cesarean birth.