# WHO recommendations: intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience (2018)

Guideline · id `maternal:guideline-who-2018-intrapartum-care` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `c7fb95f1d15a7d13` (public)

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Also called: WHO intrapartum care guideline 2018

Browse, life stage: Childbirth  
Browse, care area: Labour and birth  

## In plain language

The 2018 WHO guideline on care during labour and birth. It sets out 56 recommendations for the whole of labour, from respectful care and a companion of the woman's choice to care in each stage of labour and straight after birth. WHO says the recommendations should be carried out together as a package, in every kind of setting.

## Technical summary

Edition 2018. ISBN 978-92-4-155021-5. Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. The who.int page date is 7 February 2018, which the atlas uses for WHO decisions; the WHO IRIS record 10665/260178 lists an issue date of 2018-02-14. Of the 56 recommendations, 26 were newly developed and 30 were integrated from existing WHO guidelines. They are grouped by context: care throughout labour and birth, the first, second and third stages of labour, immediate care of the newborn and immediate care of the woman after birth. Each falls in one of four categories (Recommended, Not recommended, Recommended only in specific contexts, Recommended only in the context of rigorous research). This atlas records Recommendation 3, a companion of choice. A BJOG paper by WHO authors describes the WHO model of intrapartum care (PMID 29637727, CC BY). Whether a later edition replaces this guideline was not checked.

## Connected pages

- Issuer and publisher (copyright line: World Health Organization 2018): World Health Organization (`maternal:who`)

## Provenance

Content hash: 35b22b697654b50b8cc0fbb922fc9e6a43bd6678909b1c8e1be5a1cf8c91de54
Last substantive edit: 2026-10-14
Evidence last checked: 2026-10-14