Maternal and Newborn Health Priority Statement – Healthy Start in Life

The priority statement on Maternal & Newborn Health (MNH) outlines Save the Children’s approach to improving MNH and ensuring the continuum of quality care across the life-course.

Annually, almost 300,000 women die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth and over 2.3 million babies die within their first month of life while another 1.9 million are stillborn. Behind these figures are weakened health systems, shortages of skilled staff and supplies, disparities in income and education, and harmful gender norms and instability. The majority of these deaths are avoidable with improved access to high quality maternal and newborn health care, improved nutrition, and addressing barriers to health seeking behaviors.

Outcomes of maternal and newborn health and mortality are closely linked, sharing similar risk factors, causes, and solutions. This strong link between mother and baby is supported by Save the Children’s emphasis on the “mother-baby dyad” in our programming and our advocacy around keeping mother and baby together after birth. Save the Children works to improve maternal and newborn health by partnering with ministries of health, health workers, and communities to help women and babies access the care they need across the life cycle. We work in development and humanitarian contexts advocating for policy and practice change at global and national levels, and we design and implement programs that address the multiple determinants of health, including the impacts of COVID-19, conflict, and climate change. We work to create system-wide change that brings sustainable and resilient solutions to women, children, families, and their communities.