Society guideline links: Childbirth

Introduction — This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

Links to related guidelines are provided separately. (See "Society guideline links: Labor" and "Society guideline links: Shoulder dystocia and macrosomia".)

International

●World Health Organization (WHO): Recommendation on routine antibiotic prophylaxis for women undergoing operative vaginal birth (2021)

●International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO): Ethics and professionalism guideline – Decision making about vaginal and caesarean delivery (2020)

●WHO: Recommendations – Intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience (2018)

Canada

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't do routine episiotomy in spontaneous or instrumented vaginal births (2021)

●Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC): Clinical practice guideline on assisted vaginal birth (2019)

●SOGC: Clinical practice guideline on pregnancy and maternal obesity part 2 – Team planning for delivery and postpartum care (2019)

●SOGC: Clinical practice guideline on the physiologic basis of pain in labour and delivery – An evidence-based approach to its management (2018)

●SOGC: Guidelines for vaginal birth after previous caesarean birth (2018)

●SOGC: Clinical practice guideline on obstetrical anal sphincter injuries (OASIS) – Prevention, recognition, and repair (2015)

United States

●American College of Obstetricians (ACOG): Committee opinion on approaches to limit intervention during labor and birth (2019, reaffirmed 2021)

●ACOG: Committee opinion on delivery of a newborn with meconium-stained amniotic fluid (2017, reaffirmed 2021)

●ACOG: Committee opinion on immersion in water during labor and delivery (2016, reaffirmed 2021)

●ACOG: Committee opinion on labor and delivery management of women with human immunodeficiency virus infection (2018, reaffirmed 2020)

●ACOG: Practice bulletin on operative vaginal birth (2020)

●ACOG: Practice bulletin on vaginal birth after cesarean delivery (2019)

●ACOG: Practice bulletin for prevention and management of obstetric lacerations at vaginal delivery (2018)

●ACOG: Practice bulletin for use of prophylactic antibiotics in labor and delivery (2018)

●American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP): Clinical practice guideline – Planning for labor and vaginal birth after cesarean (2014)

United Kingdom

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence: Guideline on intrapartum care (2023)

●Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG): Green-top guideline on assisted vaginal birth, 4th edition (2020)

●NICE: Quality standard on intrapartum care – Existing medical conditions and obstetric complications (2020)

●NICE: Guideline on intrapartum care for women with existing medical conditions or obstetric complications and their babies (2019)

●NICE: Quality standard on intrapartum care (2015, updated 2017)

●RCOG: Green-top guideline for the management of third- and fourth-degree perineal tears, 3rd edition (2015)

●RCOG: Green-top guideline on birth after previous caesarean birth, 2nd edition (2015)

Australia–New Zealand

●Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG): Clinical guidance statement for care in labour in the absence of pregnancy complications (2023)

●RANZCOG: Statement on instrumental vaginal birth (2020)

Japan

●[In Japanese] Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (JSOG): Obstetrics and gynecology clinical practice guidelines – Obstetrics edition (2023)

●[In English] JSOG and Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (JAOG): Guidelines for obstetrical practice in Japan, 2020 edition (published 2023)

●[In Japanese] Nationwide survey on safe and satisfactory pregnancy and births desired by mothers – Revision of the guidelines for comfortable and safe birth and birth based on scientific evidence (2013)