Society guideline links: Cesarean birth

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.

International

●International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO): Complex cesarean section – Surgical approach to reduce the risks of intraoperative complications and postpartum hemorrhage (2025)

●FIGO: Good practice recommendations for cesarean delivery on maternal request – Challenges for medical staff and families (2023)

●FIGO: Good practice recommendations for cesarean delivery – Prep-for-Labor triage to minimize risks and maximize favorable outcomes (2023)

●FIGO: Good practice recommendations on surgical techniques to improve safety and reduce complications during cesarean delivery (2023)

●FIGO: Prep-for-Labor – Overview of labor and delivery triage bundles of care to optimize maternal and newborn outcomes (2023)

●World Health Organization (WHO): Recommendation on prophylactic antibiotics for women undergoing caesarean section (2021)

●WHO: Recommendation on vaginal preparation with antiseptic agents for women undergoing caesarean section (2021)

●WHO: Recommendations on choice of antiseptic agent and method of application for preoperative skin preparation for caesarean section (2021)

●FIGO: Ethics and professionalism guideline on decision making about vaginal and caesarean delivery (2020)

●WHO: Recommendations on non-clinical interventions to reduce unnecessary caesarean sections (2018)

Canada

●Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC): Technical update – Classification of cesarean deliveries in Canada: The modified Robson criteria (2023)

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't do a caesarean delivery for the sole indication of failure of progress in labour in the latent phase of labour for a woman at term with a singleton fetus and cephalic presentation (updated 2021)

●SOGC: Committee opinion – Impacted fetal head, second-stage cesarean delivery (2021)

●SOGC: Clinical practice guideline on trial of labour after caesarean (2019)

●SOGC: Committee opinion on caesarean delivery on maternal request (2018)

United States

●American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP): Choosing Wisely – Elective, non-medically indicated inductions of labor or cesarean deliveries before 39 weeks

●American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Committee statement on quality-improvement strategies for safe reduction of primary cesarean birth (2025)

●Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Society: Guidelines for postoperative care in cesarean delivery – Recommendations (part 3), update (2025)

•ERAS Society: Guidelines for postoperative care in cesarean delivery – Recommendations (part 3) (2019)

●ACOG: Clinical practice guideline for first and second stage labor management (2024)

●ACOG: Committee opinion on cesarean delivery on maternal request (2019, reaffirmed 2024)

●ACOG: Practice advisory on counseling regarding approach to delivery after cesarean and the use of a vaginal birth after cesarean calculator (2021, reaffirmed 2024)

●American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA): Statement on the use of adjuvant medications and management of intraoperative pain during cesarean delivery (2024)

●ASA: Statement on pain during cesarean delivery (2023)

●Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM): Special statement on surgical safety checklists for cesarean delivery (2021)

●Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP): Consensus statement and recommendations for enhanced recovery after cesarean (2021)

●SMFM: Consult series on thromboembolism prophylaxis for cesarean delivery (2020)

●SMFM: Special statement on the checklist for thromboembolism prophylaxis after cesarean delivery (2020)

●AAFP: Clinical practice guideline on vaginal birth after cesarean (2014, reaffirmed 2019)

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

●ERAS Society: Guidelines for antenatal and preoperative care in cesarean delivery – Recommendations (part 1) (2018)

●ERAS Society: Guidelines for intraoperative care in cesarean delivery – Recommendations (part 2) (2018)

Europe

●European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG): Position statement on caesarean section in Europe (2017)

United Kingdom

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Guideline on caesarean birth (2021, updated 2025)

●NICE: Interventional procedures guidance on balloon disimpaction of the baby's head at emergency caesarean during the second stage of labour (2025)

●Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG): Consent advice on planned caesarean birth (2022, updated 2024)

●NICE: Quality standard on caesarean birth (2013, updated 2021)

●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 on delivery of fetus at caesarean birth (2019, updated 2023)

●RANZCOG: Clinical guideline on caesarean birth on maternal request (CBMR) (2023)

●RANZCOG: Clinical guidance on the timing of planned caesarean section at term (2022)

●RANZCOG: Best practice statement on birth after previous caesarean section (2019)

●RANZCOG: Statement on categorisation of urgency for caesarean section (2019)

●New South Wales Ministry of Health (NSW Health): Maternity – Timing of planned or pre-labour caesarean section at term (2016)

●NSW Health: Maternity – Supporting women in their next birth after caesarean section (NBAC) (2014)

Japan

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