A policy brief has been disseminated recently by the Population Reference Bureau in Washington (www.prb.org). Entitled “Postnatal Care: A Critical Opportunity to Save Mothers and Children”, it strongly advocates the provision of integrated postnatal care for both mother and child during the critical 6 weeks immediately after the baby is born. As a non-neonatologist, I am struck by the apparent lack of data on the efficacy of various intervention strategies which could guide policy. It seems clear that the early postnatal weeks are among the most critical for both mother and child and that the very high infant and maternal mortality rates that persist in several regions of the world warrant urgent action.
Is there sufficient evidence out there to support implementation of a particular effective postnatal intervention strategy? If not, are there ethical research strategies that might be activated to determine which preventive approaches will work best? If enough information is available to guide policy decisions, can the impact of these policies be measured? If these strategies are to involve several centres might the www.mother-child.org serve as a useful devise to foster a collaborative effort?