The notion of preconception care aims to target the existing risks before pregnancy, whereby resources may be used to improve reproductive health and optimize knowledge before conceiving. The preconception period provides an opportunity to intervene earlier to optimize the health of potential mothers (and fathers) and to prevent harmful exposures from affecting the developing fetus. These interventions include birth spacing and preventing teenage pregnancy, promotion of contraceptive use, optimization of weight and micronutrient status, prevention and management of infectious diseases, and screening for and managing chronic conditions. Given existing interventions and the need to organize services to optimize delivery of care in a logical and effective manner, interventions are frequently co-packaged or bundled together. This paper highlights packages of preconception interventions that can be combined and co-delivered to women through various delivery channels and provides a logical framework for development of such packages in varying contexts.

Childbirth and the postnatal period, spanning from right after birth to the following several weeks, presents a time in which the number of deaths reported still remain alarmingly high. Worldwide, about 800 women die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications daily while almost 75% of neonatal deaths occur within the first seven days of delivery and a vast majority of these occur in the first 24 hours. Unfortunately, this alarming trend of mortality persists, as287,000 women lost their lives to pregnancy and childbirth related causes in 2010. Almost all of these deaths were preventable and occurred in low-resource settings, pointing towards dearth of adequate facilities in these parts of the world. The main objective of this paper is to review the evidence based childbirth and post natal interventions which have a beneficial impact on maternal and newborn outcomes. It is a compilation of existing, new and updated interventions designed to help physicians and policy makers and enable them to reduce the burden of maternal and neonatal morbidities and mortalities. Interventions during the post natal period that were found to be associated with a decrease in maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality included: advice and support of family planning, support and promotion of early initiation and continued breastfeeding; thermal care or kangaroo mother care for preterm and/or low birth weight babies; hygienic care of umbilical cord and skin following delivery, training health personnel in basic neonatal resuscitation; and postnatal visits. Adequate delivery of these interventions is likely to bring an unprecedented decrease in the number of deaths reported during childbirth.

Child health is a growing concern at the global level, as infectious diseases and preventable conditions claim hundreds of lives of children under the age of five in low-income countries. Approximately 7.6 million children under five years of age died in 2011, calculating to about 19 000 children each day and almost 800 every hour. About 80 percent of the world’s under-five deaths in 2011 occurred in only 25 countries, and about half in only five countries: India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan and China. The implications and burden of such statistics are huge and will have dire consequences if they are not corrected promptly. This paper reviews essential interventions for improving child health, which if implemented properly and according to guidelines have been found to improve child health outcomes, as well as reduce morbidity and mortality rates. It also includes caregivers and delivery strategies for each intervention. Interventions that have been associated with a decrease in mortality and disease rates include exclusive breastfeeding, complementary feeding strategies, routine immunizations and vaccinations for children, preventative zinc supplementation in children, and vitamin A supplementation in vitamin A deficient populations.

Background: Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS) is a simple, inexpensive and sustainable means of daily household treatment for drinking and storage of water. Globally, over a billion people lack access to safe drinking water. As many as half million under five children die annually due to diarrheal illnesses. Most of these deaths are concentrated in Africa and South Asia. Unsafe water is one of the most critical risk factors for diarrhoea. Systematic reviews indicate that interventions to improve the microbial quality of drinking water in households are effective at reducing diarrhoea illnesses and thereby contribute significantly in reducing deaths due to communicable diseases in children under 5 years. We evaluated the impact of the SODIS intervention on health outcomes and diarrheal episodes in two districts of Punjab province in Pakistan. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken to assess the impact of solar water disinfection (SODIS) program in two districts of Punjab province, Pakistan. The program was implemented by the Ministry of Health from April 2010-May 2011 in Faisalabad district. We selected Toba Tek Singh as a comparison district for the survey. Results: Analysis with regression models revealed that children had a lower risk of contracting diarrhoea when they consumed high percentages of safe drinks (SODIS), lived in households with good hygiene, washed hands, and belonged to the richest quintile. Diarrhoea prevalence was 10.1 episodes per child per year in the non-intervention area compared to 5.6 episodes per child per year (< 0.0001) in the intervention area. Similarly the proportion of children with dysentery reported in the intervention was half compared to non-intervention area (6.1% vs. 13.9%). SODIS method for purifying drinking water is acceptable and effective in the developing countries. It should be a part of preventive strategies at health system level to control diarrheal illnesses and reduce under five mortality.