THURSDAY, March 26, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- From 2016 to 2024, there was an increase in labor induction rates across all maternal age groups and across all six race and Hispanic origin groups, according to a March data brief published by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Joyce A. Martin, M.P.H., and Michelle J.K. Osterman, from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, used data from the National Vital Statistics System to examine trends in labor induction rates from 2016 to 2024.
The researchers found that from 2016 to 2024, there was an increase in labor induction from 24.9 to 34.5 percent, with increases in rates seen across all maternal age groups. Across all six race and Hispanic-origin groups, there were increases of 32 to 67 percent in labor induction rates from 2016 to 2024. Increases in labor induction rates were seen across all gestational age categories, with the largest increase for early-term births (37 to 38 weeks of gestation). In 49 states and the District of Columbia, labor induction rates increased from 2016 to 2024.
"Labor was induced for more than one-third of all singleton births in 2024 (34.5 percent), an increase of 39 percent from 2016," the authors write. "The largest increases were observed during the earlier part of the study period, from 2017 to 2020."