Article detail the landmark series of research papers published in the leading international medical journal The Lancet on the survival of newborns nearly 3 million of of the 4 million newborns that die every year could be saved if they and their mothers had access to low-cost care.

Details the Kenyan's government's struggle to meet the Millennium Development Goal for reducing maternal mortality through traditional birth attendants and its subsequent decision to stop training and instead "do away" with them.

New Delhi (dpa) - Special attention and skilled health services are needed for an estimated 40,000 pregnant women in tsunami-affected countries, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

This article analyzes the danger that pregnant women and newborns are facing in the aftermath of the tsunami.

Article details UNICEF's projects in 15 counties of Tibet to increase the quality and decrease the cost of hospital deliveries.

Article details India's new home-based approach to newborn care.

Article details India's annual newborn week, November 15.

The State Government will open 61 Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEMONC) centres throughout the State in an effort to reduce the maternal mortality rate.

This meeting at the World Bank brought together health experts from the Institute of Child Health, Save the Children’s Saving Newborn Lives, SEARCH, the University of South Africa, and the World Bank. Speakers described experiences from community-based newborn health trials, and addressed new research frontiers and program innovations in newborn care, including birth asphyxia, infection, and management of low birth weight. The video is now available on the World Bank's website.

The flyer includes maternal and newborn health data for Ghana.

The flyer includes maternal and newborn health data for Malawi.

The flyer includes maternal and newborn health data for Mozambique.

The flyer includes maternal and newborn health data for Nigeria.

The flyer includes maternal and newborn health data for South Africa.

The flyer includes maternal and newborn health data for Tanzania.

The flyer includes maternal and newborn health data for Uganda.

The flyer includes maternal and newborn health data for Ethiopia.

The flyer includes maternal and newborn health data for Ethiopia.

The flyer includes maternal and newborn health data for Mali including progress towards Millenium Goal 4, coverage of care along the continuum of care, missed opportunities and estimated causes of neonatal deaths.

Opportunities for Africa's Newborns

This brief highlights the need for early postnatal visits due to the vulnerability of mother and newborn in the first few hours and days after birth. Despite the fact that two thirds of newborn deaths occur in the first week, there is a significant gap in service during this period. This policy paper highlights key components for postnatal care: immediate and exclusive breastfeeding, warming of the infant, clean care of the umbilical cord, timely identification, referral and treatment of danger signs, extra care for low birth weight babies. Monitoring and referral for complications such as excessive bleeding, pain, and infection; counseling on breast care and breastfeeding; and advice on nutrition during breastfeeding, newborn care practices, and family planning are recommendations for care of the mother. While it is a challenge, postnatal care must occur as early as possible.

This flyer provides definitions and sources for Sub-Sahara country profiles in "Opportunities for Africa's Newborns".

Le Livre "Opportunités pour les nouveaux-nés d’Afrique" représente une étape clef dans l’objectif de sauver, au niveau mondial, 4 millions de bébés qui meurent chaque année de causes
évitables et traitables.

Oportunidades para Recém Nascidos em África representa um grande marco nos esforços para salvar 4 milhões de bebés que morrem por ano no Mundo por causas preveníveis e tratáveis.

The flyer includes data such as progress towards Millenium Goal 4, coverage of care along the continuum of care, missed opportunities and estimated causes of neonatal deaths.

This powerpoint presentation is an overview of Section I of the book "Oppotunities for Africa's Newborn".

This presentation provides an overview of Section IV of "Opportunities for Africa's Newborns".

This powerpoint presentation is an overview of Section II of "Opportunities for Africa's Newborns".

This powerpoint presentation provides a nontechnical overview of "Opportunities for Africa's Newborns"

This publication highlights the opportunities to save the lives of 1.16 million newborn babies who die in sub-Saharan Africa every year. More than two thirds of these babies can be saved if coverage of low-cost, low-tech essential interventions reached 90 percent of women and children. The book provides new data and analysis for newborn health in Africa, an overview of the continuum of care, opportunities for next steps, case studies of countries that are making progress in newborn health, and information on policy dialogue and action. A CD accompanies the book, which includes key resources, powerpoints, publications and training materials. The book was written under the umbrella of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) through the involvement of 9 organizations, 60 authors, and over 40 reviewers drawn from policymakers and program leaders for MNCH in Africa. To view the full report, go to www.pmnch.org.

This summary highlights the opportunities to save newborn babies in sub-Saharan Africa.

The flyer includes newborn health data for Ethiopia including progress towards Millenium Goal 4, coverage of care along the continuum of care, missed opportunities and estimated causes of neonatal deaths.

The flyer includes newborn health data for Ghana including progress towards Millenium Goal 4, coverage of care along the continuum of care, missed opportunities and estimated causes of neonatal deaths.

The flyer includes newborn health data for Malawi including progress towards Millenium Goal 4, coverage of care along the continuum of care, missed opportunities and estimated causes of neonatal deaths.

The flyer includes newborn health data for Mali including progress towards Millenium Goal 4, coverage of care along the continuum of care, missed opportunities and estimated causes of neonatal deaths.

The flyer includes newborn health data for Mozambique including progress towards Millenium Goal 4, coverage of care along the continuum of care, missed opportunities and estimated causes of neonatal deaths.

The flyer includes newborn health data for Nigeria including progress towards Millenium Goal 4, coverage of care along the continuum of care, missed opportunities and estimated causes of neonatal deaths.

This powerpoint presentation provides a technical overview of "Opportunities for Africa's Newborns".

The flyer includes newborn health data for South Africa including progress towards Millenium Goal 4, coverage of care along the continuum of care, missed opportunities and estimated causes of neonatal deaths.

The flyer includes newborn health data for Tanzania including progress towards Millenium Goal 4, coverage of care along the continuum of care, missed opportunities and estimated causes of neonatal deaths.

The flyer includes newborn health data for Uganda including progress towards Millenium Goal 4, coverage of care along the continuum of care, missed opportunities and estimated causes of neonatal deaths.

Building on experience working to improve MNB health within communities, Save the Children conceptualized and developed the "Household to Hospital Continuum of Care"(HHCC) approach to provide pragmatic steps to ensure the
availability of and access to quality MNB services at peripheral
health facilities and district hospitals, while strengthening
linkages between them.

This Care of the Newborn Training Guide is based on the Care of the Newborn Reference Manual
(referred to as the “Reference Manual”). If possible, each trainer and each participant should be
given a copy of the Reference Manual for use during the training and to keep afterwards. Each trainer should also be given a copy of this Training Guide. Trainers can then select which materials from the Guide to copy and distribute to participants as needed.
This Training Guide is for trainers and can be used for both pre-service and in-service programs. It contains training and assessment materials in six modules that correspond to the six chapters of the Reference Manual. Each module of the Training Guide may be divided into more than one teaching session. The suggestions on how to use this Guide and the lesson outlines for each module are just a guide. Trainers are encouraged to adapt or revise as needed and appropriate.

The purpose of this guide is to describe how to design and carry out a social mobilization programto create demand and increase participation during immunization campaigns and outine immunizations, and thereby improve the health of communities in developing countries. The approach described here was developed and used by the Saving Newborn Lives initiative (SNL) of Save the Children/USA in maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) immunization campaigns in Ethiopia, Mali, and Pakistan. Communication and
social mobilization activities helped these countries achieve high coverage by building community demand. This guide has collected the best practices
and lessons learned from designing and carrying out the campaigns, focusing on communication activities, and presents these lessons here so
they can be used in other immunization programs for women and children.

Why working in partnership with mothers, families and communities is essential to reduce maternal, newborn and child deaths, particularly in high mortality settings.

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State of the World’s Newborns is the first-ever global report on the status of newborns. This is the executive summary of the report, that attempts to highlight needs of newborns and the essential health care required for their future survival and well-being. Despite the growing magnitude of neonatal mortality, many key health solutions that are proven and affordable exist, and are ready to be impelemented. These include clean delivery practices, skilled care at
birth, tetanus toxoid immunization, warmth and drying, and immediate and exclusive breastfeeding.

This commentary from The Lancet argues that investment in maternal, newborn and child health remains seriously inadequate, despite its crucial importance not only for saving lives but also for achieving poverty reduction, equity and other human development goals. The authors point out that the most effective package of interventions for reducing mortality in both women and newborns – female education, family planning, community-based maternity care, and referral services for women with obstetric complications – has received little attention from policymakers. The interventions most likely to reduce child deaths have also failed to reach those most in need. In particular, the authors note the absence of newborn health from policies, programmes and research in the developing world, despite the 4 million neonatal deaths that occur each year.

The authors conclude that maternal and child health advocates, by competing with one another, have weakened their collective voice. Instead, the authors recommend the integration of maternal, newborn and child health programmes, alongside their strengthening and expansion. They advocate the delivery of proven cost-effective interventions through a continuum-of-care approach, spanning pregnancy, delivery, the immediate postnatal period and childhood. They also recommend a related continuum that links households to hospitals by improving home-based practices, care-seeking, and access to good quality care at health facilities.

This paper, the fourth and last in The Lancet neonatal survival series, calls on countries to take action now to improve newborn survival. The authors stress that complex technology is not essential. Low-cost effective interventions already exist that could reduce neonatal mortality by up to 70 per cent if provided universally. These include tetanus toxoid vaccination, exclusive breastfeeding, kangaroo mother care for low birthweight infants, and antibiotics for neonatal infections. They highlight success stories from countries with fairly low GDP, and evidence which shows that neonatal mortality can be greatly reduced by community-based interventions.

Key recommendations include: greater attention to newborn health in safe motherhood and child survival programmes; increased community engagement and promotion of demand for skilled care; and the establishment of national action plans for neonatal survival. The authors estimate that running the selected packages of care at 90 per cent coverage in the countries with highest mortality would cost an additional US$4.1 billion a year. However, 70 per cent of this money would also benefit mothers and older children and substantially reduce the rate of stillbirths. They conclude that without commitment from donors and governments to improve neonatal care, the millennium development goals for maternal and child health will not be met.

This paper, the second in The Lancet neonatal survival series, reviews evidence for the effectiveness of newborn health interventions in developing countries. It selects 16 simple interventions of proven efficacy (implementation under ideal conditions). These are combined into packages for scaling up within health systems, using three methods of service delivery: outreach, family-community care and facility-based clinical care. Findings show that all packages of care are more cost-effective than a single intervention. The authors estimate that 99 per cent coverage of these interventions could prevent up to 72 per cent of neonatal deaths worldwide (approximately three million). At 90 per cent coverage, a combination of universal outreach and family-community care will avert 18-37 per cent of neonatal deaths, while a 50 per cent reduction or more can be achieved through combined universal outreach, family-community care and facility-based clinical services.

The authors acknowledge that increasing access to skilled, facility-based care is an important long-term goal. However, they conclude that early improvements in neonatal survival can be achieved in settings with high mortality and weak health systems, through outreach and family-community care. They recommend the effective application of these interventions to existing programmes at the country level, alongside the expansion of clinical care.

This paper, the third in The Lancet neonatal survival series, argues that up to 70 per cent (approximately three million) of all neonatal deaths could be prevented if proven interventions were effectively implemented where they are needed most. However, the authors point out that even with major investment, achieving universal coverage is impossible in the short term. Meanwhile, most neonatal deaths continue to occur in underserved and poor communities – those with the least access to skilled care. Four key steps for scaling up newborn care are identified: (1) assess the situation and create a good policy environment; (2) achieve optimum neonatal care within health system constraints; (3) systematically scale-up neonatal care; and (4) monitor coverage and measure cost and effect.

To achieve systematic scale-up, the authors call for a dual process using both evidence-based decision-making and a rights-based approach to ensure accountability. They recommend the integration of newborn care into existing programmes such as safe motherhood or integrated management of childhood illness. They argue that community and clinical care should be linked, and advocate phased programme planning, outreach and family-community care to ensure that the poor have access to basic services while clinical health systems are strengthened and made more equitable.

This paper, the first in The Lancet neonatal survival series, focuses on the growing proportion of child deaths that occur in the neonatal period (the first four weeks of life), accounting for 38 per cent of all child deaths in 2000, or 4 million a year. Most of these deaths occur in the first week of life. However, preventing deaths of newborns has not been prioritised in either maternal or child health programmes. While 99 per cent of neonatal deaths arise in low and middle income countries, research focuses on the one per cent of deaths in rich countries. Two-thirds of these deaths are in sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia, where coverage of skilled attendance at birth is lowest. Key causes of death are pre-term birth, severe infections, and asphyxia. Low birthweight, poverty and maternal health are also important factors.

The authors conclude that the Millennium Development Goal for child survival cannot be met without achieving substantial global reductions in neonatal mortality. They argue that inequity should be addressed as a priority in all strategies to improve newborn health, and advocate increased coverage of interventions to reach the poorest and most underserved populations.

This is the outcome document entitled from the meeting in Pakistan entitled “A road map for achieving the Millennium Development Goals for Maternal and Child Health in Pakistan” was held in Islamabad on 1-2 April with wide-ranging participation from national and provincial levels. The inaugural session was attended by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Minister of Health, and included high-level representatives of the CSP. The rest of the meeting concentrated on discussion and inputs to the strategy developed by the Government of Pakistan for the achievement of MDG 4 and 5. The follow-up actions include preparation of Provincial and District operational Plans of Action and setting up of a national cordinating committee to oversee the process.

This is a summary report of the well-attended newborn health meeting that took place in Cairo in May.

The agenda of The National Conference on Safe Motherhood and the Millennium Goals, where The Lancet Series on Neonatal Survival was launched.

Issue 11 of the Newborn News, Research and Resources Newsletter

Issue 12 of the Newborn News, Research and Resources Newsletter

A key outcome of "Lives in the Balance: The Partnership Meeting on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health," this document details the way forward toward achieving MDGs 4 and 5, including actions that should be taken by both countries and international partners.

• The newborn health status and programmatic settings present a range of scenarios at national and sub-national levels, necessitating a differential approach to program planning
• The package of essential newborn care can be implemented incrementally, starting with simple, do-able interventions and gradually moving to the more complex ones in a stratified manner
• A mix of immediate and medium-term strategies is required to achieve low levels of neonatal mortality rates in countries with poor newborn health status to start with
• The scenario-based approach combines the above considerations and provides a roadmap for prioritizing newborn health strategies

Issue 11 of the Newborn News, Research and Resources Newsletter

Issue 10 of the Newborn News, Research and Resources Newsletter

Summary of the Lancet Series on Neonatal Survival.

Nepal National Neonatal Health Strategy

The aim of the Newborn Health Policy and Planning Framework is to assist countries with a high burden of neonatal mortality and morbidity to develop strategies to improve newborn health that are integrated with maternal and child health plans and set within broader health and development frameworks.

The Framework outlines a structured approach to developing the newborn health component of a strategy. The approach is consultative and participatory, takes account of national needs and resources, and builds on existing programmes and services.
THIS VERSION IS A WORKING DRAFT.

Details missions and policies of the Journal.

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Details the steps that should be taken in times of disaster to ensure that the health of pregnant women, new mothers, and newborns is protected.

Also see http://www.lalecheleague.org/emergency.html for breastfeeding-specific emergency guidelines.

From the series, "Policy Perspectives on Newborn Health," this brief describes how agencies can work together to focus attention on newborn health issues through advocacy, information exchange, and collaborative action at local, national, and global levels.

Presentation making the case for improving newborn health and survival to reach the Millenium Development Goals for child survival and maternal mortality and using MDG framwork to accelerate action in improving newborn health.

Presentation detailing the information/action gap for the newborn, the epidemiology of newborn deaths and strategies for improving information for action to meet the Millenium Development Goals.

The final report of February's HNP Meeting

This collection of case studies was developed to demonstrate different approaches to influencing national policies on maternal and newborn health.

Neonatal deaths account for 36% of under-five child mortality and must be reduced significantly for the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for child survival to be met. The vast majority of newborn deaths can be prevented by integrating known, cost-effective interventions into reproductive and child health programs. This year's statement offers a situtation analysis as well as recommendations for action to help improve newborn, as well as maternal and child health.

The agenda for HNP's 2004 conference in Addis Ababa.

The agenda for HNP's 2003 meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh

"Birth asphyxia" is a key problem to address in improving newborn survival. It has been estimated to account for approximately one-third of all neonatal deaths annually, resulting in a total of over one million deaths.

The aim of this meeting, held in Cape Town, South Africa, 29 November to 2 December 2002, was to examine current evidence and program experience regarding birth asphyxia and to discuss program strategies, research priorities, and approaches to promote more attention and action for birth asphyxia within the context of maternal and child health.

The Healthy Newborn Partnership met in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 3-5 February 2003 to discuss wide-ranging issues in newborn health and survival. Representatives of 31 multilateral, bilateral, and non-profit organizations participated in the meeting, for which the Resolution for Global Newborn Health is the outcome document.

Article from the Times of India newspaper.

Article from the Times of India newspaper.

Two-page leaflet providing an overview of current neonatal health situation, priorities for action, and a summary of key facts about newborn mortality and effective newborn health care interventions.