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

Canada

●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

●Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM): Preterm birth toolkit

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

●American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (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)

●ACOG: Committee opinion on antenatal corticosteroid therapy for fetal maturation (2017, reaffirmed 2020)

●ACOG: Committee opinion on magnesium sulfate before anticipated preterm birth for neuroprotection (2010, reaffirmed 2020)

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

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

●SMFM: Statement on the choice of progestogen for the prevention of preterm birth in women with singleton pregnancy and prior preterm birth (2017)

●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)

●SMFM: Statement on implementation of the use of antenatal corticosteroids in the late preterm birth period in women at risk for preterm delivery (2016)

●SMFM: The role of routine cervical length screening in selected high- and low-risk women for preterm birth prevention (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

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

●Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG): Best practice statement on the measurement of cervical length for prediction of preterm birth (2021)

●RANZCOG: Progesterone – Use in the second and third trimester of pregnancy for the prevention of preterm birth (2017)

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