Thousands of new mums will be spared pain and long-term health problems after NHS guidelines were changed.
Women who experience non-routine births will now be given routine antibiotics for the first time.
As many as 8000 women in the UK will be spared infections which can hamper the healing process.
Antibiotics were previously only given to women after a caesarean birth but not to mums who have a birth assisted by forceps or a suction cup.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which sets clinical practice guidelines for the NHS, last week issued new guidelines approving their wider use.
They were updated following a study at Oxford University which found that a single dose of antibiotics after an assisted birth could roughly halve the number of infections.
Professor Marian Knight, who led the study, said the change in guidance was “excellent news”.
She added: “This would prevent 8000 women from experiencing an infection.”
