Prophylactic Antibiotics for Vaginal Delivery: Benefits and Possible Harms

Abstract

(N Engl J Med. 2023;388:1221–1223) Antiseptic techniques were discovered by Ignaz Semmelweis. Semmelweis was a physician in Hungary in the 1860s. His discovery wasn’t popular at the time he published his work, but it is now a standard practice in today’s modern healthcare facilities with procedures such as basic handwashing being used in everyday life outside of the hospital setting. Although this is now standard practice, maternal death is still often caused by infection. Infection during delivery is the third most leading cause of death among mothers, following hemorrhage and hypertension. It was reported that 810 individuals die during or following delivery every day from diseases that could be prevented by following simple antiseptic techniques. Ninety-four percent of these deaths occur in low and middle-income areas, such as Africa and Asia, with 10.7% of these deaths being directly related to infection or sepsis. The Global Maternal and Neonatal Sepsis Initiative was created by the WHO to reduce the overall rate of maternal mortality by the year 2030.