RCM Blue Top Guidelines

By Hollie Ewers on 23 November 2018 Evidence-based guidelines Midwifery

We are grateful for the expert professional interest and welcome for the RCM Midwifery care in labour guidance for women in all settings. The RCM is confident that the guidance represents the best established evidence available, being based on recent systematic reviews on each topic. 

The RCM commissioned a team from the University of Nottingham, led by Professor Helen Spiby, to produce the guidance with input from an Expert Advisory Group that included midwives, service user groups, obstetric, paediatric and anaesthetic experts and other academics. Peer reviews were carried out by members of different constituencies of the midwifery community and others.

The guidance team will be publishing papers detailing the philosophy behind the work, methods and the four new systematic reviews over the next few months.  There will also be a piece in Midwives very shortly providing information about the development of the guidance.  We anticipate that the cycle of three yearly review of this guidance will enable the incorporation of new trials and other studies as they will hopefully be included in the updates to the Cochrane, JBI and other systematic reviews.  In the meantime, we are carefully considering all feedback to ensure clarity of meaning in specific areas.

Access the press release to RCM Blue Top Guidelines here.