Monitoring childbirth in a new era for maternal health

Desk Report- 16 December 2020: WHO and HRP launch the Labour Care Guide to improve every woman’s experience of childbirth, and to help ensure the health and well-being of women and their babies.

The philosophy of labour and delivery care, and the recommended World Health Organization (WHO) approach, have developed significantly in the last decades.

The recognition that every birth is unique is now a cornerstone of the 2018 WHO recommendations on intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience.

Over one third of maternal deaths, half of stillbirths and a quarter of neonatal deaths result from complications during labour and childbirth. The majority of these deaths occur in low-resource settings and are preventable through timely interventions. Knowing when to wait - and when to take life-saving action - is critical.

The WHO Labour Care Guide is a new tool, which puts the WHO recommendations on intrapartum care into practice. It helps skilled health personnel to provide woman-centred, safe and effective care and to optimize the outcome and experience of childbirth for every woman and baby.