Chapter 1 summarizes the current situation regarding the health of mothers, newborns, and children. It notes that most progress has occurred in countries that were already providing good health care in the early 1990s; and countries with the highest mortality rates have made little progress. Chapter 2 explains why progress in maternal and child health has been slow or nonexistent, with attention to poverty, humanitarian crises, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and the direct and indirect effects of HIV/AIDS. In many countries, numerous women and children are excluded from even the most basic health care. Chapter 3 reviews the three most important ways in which the outcomes of pregnancies can be improved, i.e., providing good antenatal care, finding appropriate ways of preventing and dealing with the consequences of unwanted pregnancies, and improving the way society cares for pregnant women. Chapter 4 analyzes the major complications of childbirth and the main causes of maternal mortality, followed by a chapter that presents a set of benchmarks for human resources and service networks that can provide first-level and backup maternal and newborn care. Chapter 6 then explains how in the 1970s and 1980s vertical programs produced rapid and significant progress in health care, based on a combination of state-of-the-art management and technologies derived from research. Still, it was clear that a more comprehensive strategy was needed to improve outcomes and respond to families' health care needs. The concluding chapter examines the place of maternal, newborn, and child health within the broader context of health system development, with attention to the shortages and imbalances in the distribution of health-care workers. 28 figures and 14 tables