Society guideline links: Preterm labor and 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

●World Association of Perinatal Medicine (WAPM) and Perinatal Medicine Foundation (PMF): Clinical practice guideline and recommendation for the management of preterm labor (2023)

●World Health Organization (WHO): Recommendations on interventions to improve preterm birth outcomes (2015)

Canada

●Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS): Position statement for counselling and management for anticipated extremely preterm birth (2017, reaffirmed 2023)

●Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC): Guideline on progesterone for prevention of spontaneous preterm birth (2020)

●SOGC: Committee opinion on universal cervical length screening (2019)

United States

●American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Committee opinion on antenatal corticosteroid therapy for fetal maturation (2017, reaffirmed 2024)

●ACOG: Committee opinion on magnesium sulfate before anticipated preterm birth for neuroprotection (2010, reaffirmed 2023)

●American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP): Clinical report on antenatal counseling regarding resuscitation and intensive care before 25 weeks of gestation (2015, reaffirmed 2022)

●Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM): Choosing Wisely – Don't perform routine cervical length screening for preterm birth risk assessment in asymptomatic women before 16 weeks of gestation or beyond 24 weeks of gestation (2022)

●SMFM: Choosing Wisely – Don't perform serial cervical length measurement following cerclage placement (2022)

●SMFM: Choosing Wisely – Don't place women, even those at high-risk, on activity restriction to prevent preterm birth (2022)

●SMFM: Choosing Wisely – Don't use progestogens for preterm birth prevention in uncomplicated multifetal gestations (2022)

●ACOG: Committee opinion on avoidance of nonmedically indicated early-term deliveries and associated neonatal morbidities (2019, reaffirmed 2021)

●ACOG: Committee opinion on medically indicated late-preterm and early-term deliveries (2021)

●ACOG: Practice bulletin for the prediction and prevention of spontaneous preterm birth (2021)

●SMFM: Consult series on the use of antenatal corticosteroids for individuals at risk for late preterm delivery (2021)

●American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM): Position statement on prevention of preterm labor and preterm birth (2018)

●SMFM: Statement on the role of cervical pessary placement to prevent preterm birth in clinical practice (2017)

●ACOG: Practice bulletin for management of preterm labor (2016)

United Kingdom

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Guideline for preterm labour and birth (2015, updated 2022)

●NICE: Quality standard on preterm labour and birth (2016, updated 2019)

●Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG): Green-top guideline on the care of women presenting with suspected preterm prelabour rupture of membranes from 24+0 weeks of gestation (2019)

●NICE: Diagnostics guidance on biomarker tests to help diagnose preterm labour in women with intact membranes (2018)

Australia–New Zealand

●Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG:) Clinical statement on progesterone – Use in the second and third trimester (2017, updated 2023)

●New South Wales Ministry of Health (NSW Health): Guideline for the management of threatened preterm labour (2022)

●RANZCOG: Best practice statement on the measurement of cervical length for prediction of preterm birth (2021)

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)

●[In Japanese] Choosing Wisely Japan: Precautions when giving birth to a baby – Why planned preterm birth is not desirable (2016)