So where do we start? Prioritizing clinical topics for the new Australian living guidelines for pregnancy and postnatal care

<h2>Abstract</h2><h3>Objectives</h3> To undertake a formal process to identify and prioritise clinical topics for the updating of the Australian Pregnancy Care Guidelines and development of new Australian Postnatal Care Guidelines for the Living Evidence for Australian Pregnancy and Postnatal care (LEAPP) project. <h3>Study design</h3> A bespoke, four-stage prioritisation approach was undertaken including: (1) identifying existing recommendations or topics within the guideline scope; (2) preliminary assessment of possible priorities according to agreed criteria; (3) conducting national prioritisation surveys; (4) collating priority lists. <h3>Setting</h3> Australia, June – December 2024 <h3>Participants</h3> The online surveys were distributed to health professionals providing maternity care in Australia, the original guideline developers, members of the LEAPP Steering Committee, LEAPP member organisations and maternity care consumers. Separate surveys were distributed for pregnancy and postnatal care, and for health professionals and consumers. Health professional and consumer ratings for pregnancy and postnatal care priorities were analysed and compared to generate a priority list of topics to be addressed in the guideline development. <h3>Results</h3> The initial assessment identified 24 potentially high-priority topics from the existing pregnancy care guidelines and 33 potentially high-priority postnatal care topics. Across four online surveys, we heard from 469 health professionals and 528 consumers and identified 10-12 priority topics for each of the Australian Pregnancy Care and Postnatal Care Guidelines. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Our multi-stage process for generating and prioritising topics for living clinical guideline development identified a prospective agenda of priority topics to be addressed in the LEAPP pregnancy care and postnatal care guidelines. Prioritised topics reflect areas with the highest clinical uncertainty and the potential to have the largest impact on health outcomes. The resulting list of priority topics is currently informing ongoing development of the LEAPP guidelines and provides a valuable resource for health research funders, other researchers and stakeholders.