WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience

espectively. Any concern about the validity of any
recommendation will be promptly communicated via
the interactive website for the guideline, 9 and plans
will be made to update the recommendation, as
needed.
Two years after publication and dissemination of
the guideline, an online survey will be conducted
through <strong>WHO</strong> regional and country offices and
through selected respondents of other user groups
(e.g. professional societies, NGOs) to gauge the
status and extent of in-country utilization and
adaptation, and whether any <strong>recommendations</strong> in the
guideline have been implemented or influenced policy
decisions. This survey will also help in gathering
feedback relevant to future modifications. Requests
for additional guidance may also be received from
<strong>WHO</strong> Member States. Stakeholders can address
suggestions for additional questions for inclusion
in the updated version of the guideline to the <strong>WHO</strong>
Department of RHR by email (reproductivehealth@
who.int).
All technical products developed during the process
of developing this guideline – including full reports of
systematic reviews, corresponding search strategies
and dates of searches, Cochrane Review Manager
(RevMan) 10 files customized for priority outcomes,
and the basis for quality rating of outcomes within
the GRADE process – will be archived in the
departmental shared folder for future reference and
use. Where there are concerns about the validity of a
particular recommendation based on new evidence,
the systematic review addressing the primary
question will be updated. To update the review, the
search strategy used for the initial review will be
applied, possibly by the same systematic review team
or another team if the initial review team is no longer
available.
Any new questions identified following the scoping
exercise at the end of five years will undergo a similar
process of evidence retrieval, synthesis and grading
in accordance with the <strong>WHO</strong> standards for guideline
development.
<strong>WHO</strong> <strong>recommendations</strong> on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience
As the guideline nears the end of the proposed
five-year validity period, the responsible technical
officer (or another designated <strong>WHO</strong> staff person),
in conjunction with the <strong>WHO</strong> Steering Group, will
assess the currency of the <strong>recommendations</strong> and
the need for new guidance on the topic. This will be
achieved by performing a scoping exercise among
technical experts, health professionals, researchers
and service users to identify controversial or priority
areas where further evidence-based guidance may be
needed.
9 Available at: www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/
maternal_perinatal_health/anc-positive-pregnancy-experience/
en/
The guideline development process exposed several
knowledge gaps related to antenatal screening of
GDM, syphilis and haemoglobinopathies. <strong>WHO</strong> aims
to develop further guidance around these topics
so that the appropriate <strong>recommendations</strong> can be
included in updated ANC guidance. In addition, future
updates will aim to include more <strong>recommendations</strong>
on how to improve ANC utilization, quality and
delivery, which will be informed by new <strong>WHO</strong>
guidance on improving the quality of care throughout
the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal continuum.
10 For further information, see: http://www.cochrane.org/revman
122