WHO recommendation on umbilical vein injection of oxytocin for the treatment of retained placenta

Overview

In 2019, the Executive Guideline Steering Group (GSG) for the World Health Organization (WHO) maternal and perinatal health recommendations prioritized updating of the existing WHO recommendation: Umbilical vein injection of oxytocin for the treatment of retained placenta, in response to the availability of new evidence.

The recommendation in this document thus supersedes the previous WHO recommendations on “intraumbilical vein injection of oxytocin for treatment of retained placenta” as published in the 2012 guideline, WHO recommendations for the prevention and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage.