Objective To observe the clinical effects of different methods to improve cervical ripening at the third trimester of pregnancy, so as to improve the success rate of labor induction and reduce the cesarean section (CS) rate.Methods One hundred and twenty predelivery pregnant women hospitalized from January 2011 to December 2012 were selected randomly for the study .All the subjects were primiparae , without vaginal delivery contraindications and with signs of induced labor and cervical scores ≤4.Following introduction to different methods of promoting cervical ripening , 66 cases voluntarily selected to use the Cook Medical′s Cervical Ripe-ning Balloon and were assigned as the balloon group .The other 54 cases selected oxytocin for the induction of labor and were assigned as the oxytocin group .Bishop scores , CS rates and infection risks were observed both before and after promotion of cervical ripening , and were compared between the two groups .Results There were significant differences in cervical scores and CS rates between the bal -loon group and the oxytocin group , while no significant differences could be seen in infection rates between the 2 groups (P>0.05). Conclusion Cook Medical′s Cervical Ripening Balloon could produce better effect on cervical ripening than simple intravenous infu -sion of oxytocin .It could increase the success rate of labor induction and decrease the CS rate , but without increase in infection risk .