Bishop Score

Bishop score, also Bishop's score, also known as cervix score is a pre-labor scoring system to assist in predicting whether induction of labor will be required. It has also been used to assess the odds of spontaneous preterm delivery. The Bishop Score was developed by Dr. Edward Bishop and was published in August 1964.

The total score is achieved by assessing the following five components on vaginal examination:

The Bishop score grades patients who would be most likely to achieve a successful induction. The duration of labor is inversely correlated with the Bishop score; a score that exceeds 8 describes the patient most likely to achieve a successful vaginal birth. Bishop scores of less than 6 usually require that a cervical ripening method be used before other methods.

They can be remembered with the mnemonic: Call PEDS For Parturition = Cervical Position, Effacement, Dilation, Softness; Fetal Station.

Each component is given a score of 0 to 2 or 0 to 3. The highest possible score is 13.

A score of 5 or less suggests that labour is unlikely to start without induction. A score of 9 or more indicates that labour will most likely commence spontaneously.

A low Bishop's score often indicates that induction is unlikely to be successful. Some sources indicate that only a score of 8 or greater is reliably predictive of a successful induction.

According to the Modified Bishop's pre-induction cervical scoring system, effacement has been replaced by cervical length in cm, with scores as follows: 0 for >3 cm, 1 for >2 cm, 2 for >1 cm, 3 for >0 cm.

Another modification for the Bishop's score is the modifiers. Points are added or subtracted according to special circumstances as follows:

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