Roach 1997.

Study characteristics
Methods	RCT
Participants	Number of women randomised: 201 Setting: Hong Kong, China Study date: not reported Inclusion criteria GA: 41 weeks at recruitment GA at intervention: 42 completed weeks Parity: not stated Exclusion criteria Pre‐eclampsia Gestational diabetes Contraindication to vaginal birth (e.g. placenta praevia, non‐cephalic presentation) Evidence of fetal or maternal compromise State of cervix: not mentioned as a criterion
Interventions	Induction group (n = 96): PGE2 pessaries 6‐hourly if necessary versus EM group (n = 105): serial monitoring with NST (x 2) and amniotic fluid index measurements (x 1) weekly
Outcomes	Mother: spontaneous labour; caesarean section; fetal distress in labour Baby: birthweight; Apgar score < 7 (1 minute/5 minutes); cord blood pH; admission to NICU; meconium below the vocal cords
Notes	Funding: not reported Declarations of interest: not reported
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	The method of sequence generation was not reported.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Allocation in a series of identical envelopes but no mention of sealed envelopes, opaqueness and sequential numbered envelopes
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Blinding was not feasible.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Blinded outcome assessment was not mentioned.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	No apparent losses to follow‐up or exclusions. 17/96 (18%) in the induction group went into spontaneous labour and 12/105 (11%) in the EM group were induced and the results for these women were included in the analyses.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Very few outcomes reported; "We did not address perinatal mortality in this study." No access to trial protocol to further assess selective reporting
Other bias	Low risk	Appeared to be free of other bias