Update information
February 2017: Statement 3 on cardiotocography and the initial assessment of a woman in labour has been removed. This change has been made because the source guidance for this statement (NICE's guideline on intrapartum care) has been updated and the advice on cardiotocography for low-risk women has changed.
Minor changes since publication
June 2025: Recommendation numbers have been updated in statement 5 on interventions during labour in line with the updated NICE guideline on intrapartum care. References in this statement to labour progressing 'normally' have also been changed to labour that is progressing 'with no complications or concerns' to align with the guideline.
September 2023: Recommendation numbers and references have been updated throughout the quality standard in line with the updated NICE guideline on intrapartum care.
December 2022: Changes have been made to align statement 4 of this quality standard with NICE's guideline on fetal monitoring in labour, which has updated the section on monitoring labour in NICE's guideline on intrapartum care. The source guidance, recommendation numbers and definition of normal cardiotocograph trace have been updated. Data sources and references have also been updated throughout.
August 2021: Changes have been made to align statement 1 of this quality standard with NICE's guideline on antenatal care. The process measures, recommendation numbers, references and links to the source guidance have been updated. Data sources and references have also been updated throughout.
November 2017: Changes were made to the definition of normal cardiotocograph trace in statement 4 to ensure alignment with NICE's guideline on intrapartum care.