Appropriate technology and education for improved intrapartum care in under-resourced countries

Each year, over a million infants die worldwide during labour, while an even greater number die on the first day of life. As deaths in the first 24 hours after delivery make up approximately a third of neonatal deaths and a fifth of deaths in under-5s, intrapartum events resulting in these losses need to be urgently addressed if the fourth Millennium Development Goal of reducing under-5 deaths by two-thirds is to be met by 2015.