Giving a single dose of preventative antibiotics to all women after childbirth involving forceps or vacuum extraction could prevent almost half of maternal infections.
The claim comes from a new paper, which states that this is equivalent to over 7,000 maternal infections every year in the UK.
The first randomised trial of its kind in the UK involved 3,420 women from 27 obstetric units and also found that for every additional 100 doses of antibiotic given prophylactically, 168 doses could be avoided due to fewer post-delivery infections.
This means that a policy of universal prophylaxis after birth could help to reduce antibiotic use by 17%.
Infection rates after assisted vaginal birth without antibiotic prophylaxis are around 16% worldwide, and up to 25% after caesarean section.
For every woman who dies from pregnancy-related infection, another 70 women develop a severe infection.
Marian Knight, from the University of Oxford, who led the research, said: “These findings highlight the urgent need to change current WHO antibiotic guidelines.”
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