Guidance

This section is for maternity, neonatal or perinatal clinical guidelines, pathways, drug monographs and other guidance documents.

The guidance documents listed below have been arranged loosely by topic area and alphabetical thereafter.

We also host neonatal guidance produced by the West of Scotland (WoS) guidelines group and the links to these pages are below. (These WoS guidelines are not subject to review or governance by the SPN or by PSD Scotland, and any questions about their current status must be referred to the individuals mentioned in the further guidance on this issue within the WoS link on this site.) However, please note from 1st October 2026 drug monographs are no longer available on the Scottish Perinatal Network website.

 

National Perinatal Guidelines | West of Scotland Neonatal Guidelines | West of Scotland Neonatal Drug Monographs 

 

SPN National Maternity / Neonatal / Perinatal Guidelines

The national guidelines have been developed and are governed by the Scottish Perinatal Network, supported by a Programme Team hosted by Public Services Delivery Scotland. If you have a question about a national guideline, please contact the Scottish Perinatal Network Programme Team.

National Scottish Perinatal Network guidelines are reviewed routinely three years after publication. The date of publication or last review (whichever is most recent) is stated in brackets after the guideline title.

The recommendations in each guideline represent the view of the respective guideline authors, arrived at after careful consideration of the evidence available. When exercising their clinical judgement, healthcare professionals are expected to take this guidance fully into account, alongside the individual needs, preferences and values of the individuals and families using their service. It is not mandatory to follow the guideline recommendations, and it remains the responsibility of the healthcare professional to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families and carers or guardians/welfare attorneys.

 

BBV Guidance
Breastmilk, managing breastmilk, and infant feeding
Diabetes
Difficult Airway Management
Down’s Syndrome
Endocrinology
Home Oxygen
Management of Extreme Preterm Infants (22+0 to 23+6 weeks) Guideline
Neurology
Neuroprotection / Cooling
Parent and Family Engagement
Surgical Conditions Affecting Neonates in Scotland (SCANS)
Term Respiratory Failure
Transport