No trials to say if women with retained placenta after giving birth would benefit from routine antibiotics prior to manual removal of placenta.
Following the birth of her baby, a mother normally delivers the placenta with further pushing and support from her caregivers. Sometimes the placenta gets stuck on the wall of the womb (retained placenta) and does not deliver. These women usually require manual removal of the placenta under anaesthesia (either a general or regional). Infection and bleeding are the important complications of manual removal. The review found no trials to determine whether antibiotics given routinely (prophylactically) to all women with retained placenta reduced the incidence of problems. Future trials need to address the risk of contributing to drug resistant bacterial strains.