SMFM Clinical Practice Guidelines Development Process

The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) publishes clinical practice guidelines in two types of documents: SMFM Clinical Guidelines, which address topics of particular interest to maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) subspecialists, and the SMFM Consult Series, which consist of more focused clinical questions on obstetric topics that may be useful to all obstetric care providers. The SMFM guideline development process includes a rigorous review and grading of the evidence in the relevant scientific literature, input of a committee of expert members, and a multilayered peer review approval process. To facilitate transparency in SMFM’s guideline development process, a brief overview of the key stages in development is provided