Healthy Start: The first month of life

Ensuring every child gets the water, sanitation and hygiene they need.

Bringing a new life into the world should be a time of love and hope for mother and baby, wherever they happen to live.

But, around the world, one in every 50 births leads to heartbreak for parents, as their precious newborn son or daughter will die before they are a month old.

In 2013, over 2.7 million babies died in their first four weeks of life. This is overwhelmingly a problem of the developing world – with over 99% of neonatal deaths occurring in low and middle income countries.

In the year the world replaces the Millennium Development Goals with the Sustainable Development Goals, it is time to ensure that the next generation of children is given the best start in life – a healthy start.