Aim. The aim of the study was to analyze the birth status of a newborn after a childbirth induced by a Foley catheter compared to a spontaneous birth. Materials and methods. The study involved 146 newborns after spontaneous deliveries (47.9%) or induced by a Foley catheter (52.1%). The research methodology assumed the analysis of medical records. The calculations were carried out using the Statistica v 10.0 software from StatSoft. The Chi square Pearson and t-Student tests were used for statistical analysis. The significance level was assumed to be p<0.05. Results. The most common indications for the Foley catheter pre-induction were pregnancy after term, gestational type 1 diabetes and oligohydramnios. The neonatal birth rate assessed according to the Apgar scale did not differ significantly in both groups. Differences in the values of umbilical blood gasometry parameters in both groups were not statistically significant. Conclusions. Induction of delivery with the Foley catheter is not associated with a worse birth condition of the newborn. The birth state of the newborn may also be dependent on pre-induction indications. The anthropometric parameters of the born fetuses, the Apgar score as well as the gasometric tests indicate that the Foley catheter can be considered as a cheap, but above all a safe and effective method of labor induction.

Key words: Scores on the Apgar's scale, umbilical cord blood gasometry, childbirth, induction of labor, Foley's catheter.