The Executive GSG convenes annually to review WHO’s current portfolio of maternal and perinatal health recommendations and to help WHO prioritize new and existing questions for recommendation development and updating. Accordingly, this recommendation will be reviewed along with other recommendations for prioritization by the Executive GSG.
If new evidence that could potentially impact the current evidence base is identified, the recommendation may be updated. If no new reports or information are identified, the recommendation may be revalidated. The GDG acknowledged the GBS3 trial anticipated for publication in 2026 which will provide new evidence on universal screening (including rapid intrapartum testing) as compared with risk-based screening (ISRCTN49639731) (2). The GDG also noted the prioritized development of GBS vaccines suitable for maternal immunization in pregnancy and for use in low-and-middle-income countries by the WHO (34). Following publication and dissemination of the updated recommendation, any concerns about the validity of the recommendation should be promptly communicated to the guideline implementers.
WHO welcomes suggestions regarding additional questions for inclusion in any updated recommendation. Please email your suggestions to tni.ohw@hpmhrs.
Publication Details
Copyright
Sales, rights and licensing. To purchase WHO publications, see https://www.who.int/publications/book-orders. To submit requests for commercial use and queries on rights and licensing, see https://www.who.int/copyright.
Third-party materials. If you wish to reuse material from this work that is attributed to a third party, such as tables, figures or images, it is your responsibility to determine whether permission is needed for that reuse and to obtain permission from the copyright holder. The risk of claims resulting from infringement of any third-party-owned component in the work rests solely with the user.
Some rights reserved. This work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo).
Under the terms of this licence, you may copy, redistribute and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, provided the work is appropriately cited, as indicated below. In any use of this work, there should be no suggestion that WHO endorses any specific organization, products or services. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted. If you adapt the work, then you must license your work under the same or equivalent Creative Commons licence. If you create a translation of this work, you should add the following disclaimer along with the suggested citation: “This translation was not created by the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO is not responsible for the content or accuracy of this translation. The original English edition shall be the binding and authentic edition”.
Any mediation relating to disputes arising under the licence shall be conducted in accordance with the mediation rules of the World Intellectual Property Organization (http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/mediation/rules/).
Publisher
World Health Organization, Geneva
NLM Citation
WHO recommendation on screening of pregnant women for intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis for the prevention of early onset Group B streptococcus disease in newborns [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024. 7, Updating the recommendations.