The Department of Reproductive Health and Research and the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health of the World Health Organization (WHO) gratefully acknowledge the contributions that many individuals and organizations have made to the development of this guideline.
Work on this guideline was initiated by Olufemi Oladapo, Mercedes Bonet and A. Metin Gülmezoglu of the Department of Reproductive Health and Research. Olufemi Oladapo coordinated the guideline development project. Ana Pilar Betrán, Mercedes Bonet, A. Metin Gülmezoglu, Olufemi Oladapo, João Paulo Souza and Joshua Vogel of the Department of Reproductive Health and Research, and Maurice Bucagu and Anayda Portela of the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, were the members of the WHO Steering Group, which managed the guideline development process. The following WHO headquarters’ staff contributed to the guideline development process at various stages: Rajat Khosla, Frances McConville and Özge Tunçalp. Mavjuda Babamuradova, Karima Gholbzouri, Bremen De Mucio, Mari Nagai and Leopold Ouedraogo were WHO regional advisors who contributed to the guideline technical consultations.
WHO extends sincere thanks to Hany Abdel-Aleem, Fernando Althabe, Melania Amorim, Michel Boulvain, Aparajita Gogoi, Tina Lavender, Silke Mader, Suellen Miller, Rintaro Mori, Hiromi Obara, Oladapo Olayemi, Robert Pattinson, Harshad Sanghvi, Mandisa Singata-Madliki, Jorge E. Tolosa and Hayfaa Wahabi, who served as members of the Guideline Development Group (GDG), and to Pisake Lumbiganon and James Neilson for chairing the technical consultations.
We appreciate the feedback provided by a large number of international stakeholders during the scoping exercise that took place as part of the guideline development process. Special thanks to the authors of the Cochrane systematic reviews used in this guideline for their assistance and collaboration in preparing or updating them.
The following experts provided methodological support as members of the Technical Working Group (TWG): Edgardo Abalos, Debra Bick, Meghan Bohren, Monica Chamillard, Virginia Diaz, Soo Downe, Therese Dowswell, Kenneth Finlayson, Frances Kellie, Theresa Lawrie, Julia Pasquale, Elham Shakibazadeh and Gill Thomson. Therese Dowswell and Frances Kellie coordinated the updating of the relevant Cochrane systematic reviews, and Edgardo Abalos, Monica Chamillard, Virginia Diaz and Julia Pasquale performed quality appraisal of the scientific evidence from these reviews. Edgardo Abalos, Debra Bick, Meghan Bohren, Soo Downe, Kenneth Finlayson, Elham Shakibazadeh and Gill Thomson led the teams that conducted additional systematic reviews to inform the guideline. Theresa Lawrie double-checked the evidence profiles from all systematic reviews and, with other members of the TWG and the WHO Steering Group, prepared the corresponding narrative summaries and evidence-to-decision frameworks. Theresa Lawrie and Olufemi Oladapo drafted the final guideline document before it was reviewed by other members of the WHO Steering Group and the GDG.
We acknowledge the following observers at the final technical consultation, who represented various organizations: Diogo Ayres-de-Campos (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics [FIGO]); Mechthild M. Gross (International Confederation of Midwives [ICM]); Petra ten Hoope-Bender (United Nations Population Fund [UNFPA]); Mary Ellen Stanton (United States Agency for International Development [USAID]), and Alison Wright (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists [RCOG]). Blami Dao, Justus Hofmeyr, Caroline Homer, Vanora Hundley, Barbara Levy and Ashraf Nabhan peer-reviewed the guideline document as members of the External Review Group (ERG).
This work was funded by USAID and the UNDP–UNFPA–UNICEF–WHO–World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), a cosponsored programme executed by the WHO. The views of the funding bodies have not influenced the content of this guideline.
Editing: Green Ink, United Kingdom.
