The Small Vulnerable Newborn Series was launched during the International Maternal Newborn Health Conference in Cape Town on 9th May, 2023. The Launch event unpacked the five-article Lancet Series which explores the global importance and possibilities of preventing the birth of Small Vulnerable Newborns.
The article Series has been authored by a total of 55 scientists, from all over the world. Tampere university Global Health Group coordinates the project, working in close collaboration with several international partners. The Series was published in The Lancet in May, 2023.
During 2023, the Global Health Group together with partners will organize four regional events in Africa, South America, and Asia. These regional events aim to convene stakeholders, to share up-to-date scientific evidence on small vulnerable newborns, and to advocate for the importance and opportunities to prevent babies being born too small or too early.
The SVN Launch project seeks to bring forward a new umbrella term “small vulnerable newborn” to describe babies who are born preterm, small for gestational age, or with low birth weight. These conditions account for most neonatal deaths worldwide. They are also associated with stillbirths and life-long health adversities among those who survive their early weeks. Moreover, they have adverse consequences on the families of the newborn and the society at-large, resulting in a major loss of human capital.
A large share of SVN births and associated ill health could be prevented with a package of relatively simple and low-cost interventions during the antenatal period. Better programming for SVN prevention and implementing interventions aimed at SVN prevention would result in a healthier start for live-born infants, whilst also reducing the number of stillbirths, improving maternal health, and contributing to a positive economic and social development in the society. The series calls for a global, regional, and national whole-society response, to ensure every infant to be born alive, at the right time, and the right size, everywhere.
The SVN Launch project is funded by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
