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As a means to meet global maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) targets, self-care has enormous potential. When promoted throughout the lifecycle and as an essential part of MNCH, self-care empowers women and their families with the knowledge, skills and confidence to proactively maintain healthy pregnancies, prevent complications, protect children’s health, defend their rights and identify emergencies, particularly at the community level. Despite its proven potential, donors, advocates, policy-makers and practitioners often overlook self-care in favor of clinical interventions and disease-specific, top-down approaches to MNCH.