A website dedicated to empowering healthcare providers to suspect, treat and prevent sepsis in women and newborn
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research (SRH)
Including the Human Reproduction Special Programme (HRP)
Maternal sepsis
Maternal sepsis is the third most common cause of maternal mortality. Maternal sepsis is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs during pregnancy, childbirth, post-abortion or the postpartum period.
The World Health Organization provides guidance and country support on maternal sepsis prevention, early and appropriate diagnosis, and timely and appropriate clinical management
News
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Publications
18 June 2021
WHO recommendation on vaginal preparation with antiseptic agents for women undergoing caesarean section
The recommendation in this document thus supersedes the previous WHO recommendation on vaginal preparation with antiseptic agents for women undergoing...
18 June 2021
WHO recommendation on routine antibiotic prophylaxis for women undergoing operative vaginal birth
The recommendation in this document thus supersedes the previous WHO recommendation on routine antibiotic prophylaxis for women undergoing operative...
The recommendation in this document thus supersedes the previous WHO recommendation on prophylactic antibiotics for women undergoing caesarean section...
18 June 2021
WHO recommendations on choice of antiseptic agent and method of application for preoperative skin preparation...
The recommendations in this document thus supersede the previous WHO recommendations for choice of antiseptic agent and method of application for preoperative...
31 May 2017
Statement on maternal sepsis
Sepsis: a leading cause of maternal deathsStrategic approaches to reduce maternal mortality in the past 15 years have mainly focused on clinical interventions...
21 April 2016
WHO recommendations for prevention and treatment of maternal peripartum infections – Executive summary
The goal of the present guideline is to consolidate guidance for effective interventions that are needed to reduce the global burden of maternal infections...
HRP project briefs
PROGRESS: priorities for global research in maternal sepsis
The Active Prevention and Treatment of Maternal Sepsis (APT-Sepsis)
Multimedia
Infographics
Related health topics
Related fact sheets