Society guideline links: Labor

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: Delivery" and "Society guideline links: Shoulder dystocia and macrosomia".)

International

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

●International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG): Practice guidelines on intrapartum ultrasound (2018)

●World Health Organization (WHO): Recommendations on intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience (2018)

●FIGO: Consensus guidelines on intrapartum fetal monitoring (2015)

●FIGO, International Confederation of Midwives, White Ribbon Alliance (WRA), International Pediatric Association (IPA), WHO: Guidelines on mother-baby friendly birthing facilities (2014)

●WHO: Recommendations for augmentation of labour (2014)

●FIGO: Guidelines for the management of the second stage of labor (2012)

Canada

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Avoid the use of routine episiotomy in spontaneous vaginal births (2019)

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't do electronic fetal monitoring for low risk women in labour; use intermittent auscultation (2019)

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

●SOGC: Management of spontaneous labour at term in healthy women (2016)

United States

●American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Committee opinion on planned home birth (2017, reaffirmed 2020)

●ACOG: Committee opinion on approaches to limit intervention during labor and birth (2019)

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

●American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM): Position statement on nitrous oxide for labor and birth analgesia (2016)

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

●American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP): Practice guidelines for obstetric anesthesia (2016)

●ACNM: Position statement on hydrotherapy during labor and birth (2014)

●ACOG: Practice bulletin on intrapartum fetal heart rate monitoring – Nomenclature, interpretation, and general management principles (2009)

United Kingdom

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Clinical guideline on intrapartum care for healthy women and babies (2014, updated 2022)

●NICE: Guideline on fetal monitoring in labour (2022)

●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)

●Royal College of Midwives (RCM): Position statement on doulas (2017)

●Choosing Wisely UK: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists – Electronic monitoring of a baby's heart should not be offered routinely during labour unless the mother is at a higher risk of complications than normal (2016)

●RCM: Evidence based guidelines for midwifery-led care in labour – Persistent lateral and posterior fetal positions at the onset of labour (2012)

●RCM: Evidence based guidelines for midwifery-led care in labour – Positions for labour and birth (2012)

Australia-New Zealand

●Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG): Best practice statement on water immersion during labour and birth (2021)

●RANZCOG: Home births (2017)

●RANZCOG: Provision of routine intrapartum care in the absence of pregnancy complications (2017)

●National Blood Authority (NBA): Patient blood management guidelines – Module on obstetrics and maternity (2015)

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 (2020)