Quality standard on antibiotics to reduce newborn deaths

Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive and director of health and social care at NICE said: “Giving prompt treatment with antibiotics helps to save the lives of many newborn babies every year. This new quality standard sets out how healthcare professionals can quickly and effectively prescribe antibiotics to those pregnant women and babies who need it the most.”

The quality standard includes six statements to help reduce newborn deaths and improve the treatment of pregnant women and babies who need antibiotics for an infection, including:

• Thoroughly assessing pregnant women and newborn babies to identify any clinical signs that put a newborn at risk of infection.

• Offering a preventative course of antibiotics to women as soon as possible during labour if they are at risk of passing an infection on to their newborn².

• Administering antibiotics within one hour if it is decided that a newborn needs treatment, even if test results are yet to come through.

Professor Leng added: “We also know that there are times when babies are given antibiotics when they are not needed. This standard sets out how healthcare professionals should responsibly prescribe antibiotics in newborn babies to make sure they are not exposed to unnecessary treatments. This will prevent many babies developing a resistance to antibiotics when they grow up and may also reduce the risk of having further problems, such as eczema and asthma.” 

To ensure appropriate prescribing the standard also states that any newborn baby who starts antibiotic treatment should be reassessed at 36 hours to check whether or not they still need them. The reassessment should include any test results that weren’t previously considered. Antibiotic treatment may be stopped if the initial suspicion of infection was not strong, test results are negative and the baby’s clinical condition is reassuring. 

The full standard is available at www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs75