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Cervical ripening with dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate

Summary. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA‐S) was given intravenously twice a week after 38 weeks gestation to ripen the uterine cervix in 20 nulliparae and 24 parous women who subsequently went into labour at term. The condition of the uterine cervix was assessed by Bishop scoring. The increase in the score in nulliparous women given DHEA‐S was significantly greater than that in the control group, who were given placebo injections, on the 7th, 14th and 21st days. The increase in the parous women was significant only on the 7th day. In nulliparous women the dilatation, effacement and consistency improved significantly, while in the parous women the effect of DHEA‐S was apparent only in the consistency. The duration of labour was significantly shortened by treatment with DHEA‐S in nulliparae but this effect was not found in parous women. The interval between the first administration of DHEA‐S and the onset of labour in nulliparae was significantly shorter than that in the control group. There were no serious side effects or complications. Our results suggest that DHEA‐S may be used safely and effectively to ripen the uterine cervix and to trigger the onset of labour in late pregnancy.