Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Aug 19;4(4):e001683.
doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001683. eCollection 2019.

Developing and applying a 'living guidelines' approach to WHO recommendations on maternal and perinatal health

Joshua P Vogel  1   2 , Therese Dowswell  3 , Simon Lewin  4   5   6 , Mercedes Bonet  1 , Lynn Hampson  3 , Frances Kellie  3 , Anayda Portela  7 , Maurice Bucagu  7 , Susan L Norris  8 , James Neilson  3 , Ahmet Metin Gülmezoglu  1 , Olufemi T Oladapo  1
Affiliations
Review

Developing and applying a 'living guidelines' approach to WHO recommendations on maternal and perinatal health

Joshua P Vogel et al. BMJ Glob Health. .

Abstract

How should the WHO most efficiently keep its global recommendations up to date? In this article we describe how WHO developed and applied a 'living guidelines' approach to its maternal and perinatal health (MPH) recommendations, based on a systematic and continuous process of prioritisation and updating. Using this approach, 25 new or updated WHO MPH recommendations have been published in 2017-2018. The new approach helps WHO ensure its guidance is responsive to emerging evidence and remains up to date for end users.

Keywords: clinical guidelines; living guidelines; living recommendations; living systematic reviews; maternal and perinatal health; recommendations; world health organization.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: LH, FK and JN are affiliated with Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth, which has received a grant (paid to the University of Liverpool) to work with WHO on this project and to support volunteer authors prepare Cochrane reviews. All other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Framework for assessing priority for updating (adapted from Garner et al [29]). *By ‘revalidate recommendation’, we mean reaffirming the existing recommendation in terms of direction and technical content. The wording of the recommendation may be revised to improve clarity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO recommendations on induction of labour. Geneva, 2011.
    1. WHO recommendations for prevention and treatment pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2011. - PubMed
    1. WHO recommendations for the prevention and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2012. - PubMed
    1. WHO recommendations on postnatal care of the mother and newborn. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2013. - PubMed
    1. WHO recommendations on augmentation of labour. Geneva: World Health organization, 2014. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources