Despite nearly one million births involving labor induction each year in the US, there has been no single regimen for induction that has been accepted as being superior for patient experience, quality outcomes and costs.
Valery A. Danilack, MPH, PhD, research associate in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, and the Brown University School of Public Health, has recently received a five-year, $533,000 Research Scientist Development Award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Her research is entitled “Comparative Effectiveness of Interventions for Labor Induction.”
“My goal is to determine optimal methods of labor induction that minimize harm and maximize benefits while balancing operational cost,” explained Dr. Danilack. “We propose to utilize advanced statistical techniques to study important tradeoffs between the effectiveness, side effects, resource use, and patient preferences of interventions used for labor induction.”
The study has three aims:
Dr. Danilack said, “The findings of this research will help inform labor induction policies and clinical guidelines, as well as improve education for patients and providers.”
Maureen G. Phipps, MD, MPH, chair and Chace-Joukowsky Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and assistant dean for Teaching and Research in Women’s Health at the Alpert Medical School, professor of epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health, and chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women & Infants Hospital and Care New England Health System, praised Dr. Danilack and her research, “In addition to being proud of Dr. Danilack and her work, we are supporting Dr. Danilack through this award demonstrating Women & Infants and Brown University’s commitment to not only improving the health of women, but also to training the next generation of leaders in women’s health.”