Birth being the time of greatest risk for the newborn and their mother with minutes deciding over life, death and health, this moment is also one of the greatest tests of how well health systems function. The series involved a 10 year collaboration coordinated by Professor Joy Lawn (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)), and Emmanuelle Daviaud (Medical Research Council South Africa), working with a group of LSHTM and African economists, and a range of partners in the countries including UNICEF, with funding mainly though Saving Newborn Lives/Save the Children.

The IDEAS Principal Investigator Joanna Schellenberg, co-authored one of the papers on Improving Newborn Survival in Southern Tanzania (INSIST) trial; community-based maternal and newborn care economic analysis.

All articles can be accessed at http://bit.ly/CommunityMNH