Conclusion and recommendations

Women, newborns and children all have rights and all would benefit from a health system that functions to deliver interventions from the pre-pregnancy period, through pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period into infancy and childhood.

Community and clinical care are both part of a functional health system. By applying a phased approach to programme planning, outreach and family-community services can save lives now, especially among the poor. At the same time, professional clinical care should be strengthened and made more equitable. Strong community services can promote demand for skilled care.

Maternal, neonatal and child deaths constitute a huge number of deaths each year, totalling over 11 million, plus approximately 4 million stillbirths. Yet attention and funding for maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH) is much less than in other high profile causes such as HIV and AIDS. A united voice calling for investment in MNCH systems would be more effective than internally competing voices.