History of Inductions

kmornelas29

I posted this on the March birth club discussion forum, but I thought that I would post it here as well. 

I have been hearing so much about inductions lately, and it got me thinking, what in the world did women do before inductions were made available?

I was doing some research and it mentioned that inductions became popular in the 1960's, after the drug oxytocin was introduced, but what in the world did women do before that?

Was there a greater chance of baby dying? Did more moms die as a result of baby getting too big and medical problems arising? Did women just plain ole wait it out and everything was fine?

Doctors now talk about why inductions are so necessary after 41/42 weeks, sometimes even sooner, yet women having been giving birth for millions of years without it.  

Waiting it out can't be as bad as they say or was it bad and we just are not aware of the outcomes of it?

Thanks! Would to hear from anyone that knows the history on this!