It is a sobering thought that world wide there are more than four million neonatal deaths per year, the majority occurring in the first week of life with an equal number of stillbirths. Most of these deaths are preventable and the result of a combination of poor maternal health and nutrition and inadequate perinatal care. This manual is the result of a collaboration between the WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, and the World Bank and represents a renewed effort to address this problem. It forms one of the WHO IMPAC (Integrated Management of Pregnancy and Childbirth) series. Its remit is to complement the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) guidelines and expand these into a comprehensive evidence based perinatal care manual with the emphasis on …