The Government of Nepal (GoN) has a long history of commitment to improving maternal and neonatal health outcomes, most recently evidenced by the high priority given to the National Safe Motherhood Programme within the Nepal Health Sector Programme Implementation Plan (NHSP-IP 2004-2009). Despite important gains over the past 15 years, the maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality rates remain high (539 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births1 and neonatal mortality rate of 39/1000 live births1), largely due to the lack of skilled attendance at birth, as well as poor referral systems and lack of access to life-saving emergency obstetric care when complications occur.
