Born Too Soon: Women’s health and maternal care services, seizing missed opportunities to prevent and manage preterm birth

To better prevent and manage preterm births as part of broader goals of improving maternal and newborn health, health systems need to be strengthened so that all women are reached with essential packages of care before, during, and after pregnancy and childbirth. Achieving this and integrating these service packages into universal health coverage strategies requires collaboration across government leaders, civil society members, private sector actors, and development partners. Increasing coverage of antenatal care, institutional delivery, and postnatal care represents an opportunity to improve the quality of care provided during those service contacts including through the provision of interventions that address modifiable risk factors for preterm birth such as prevention and treatment of infections, poor nutritional status, and substance use. Other pivots to enhance the quality of care include using existing tools to optimize the management of preterm birth, such as appropriate use of antenatal corticosteroids, and providing respectful person-centred care for women, adolescents, and families.