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Every year up to 28,000 newborns die in Mali, representing a quarter of all under-five year old child deaths. To reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), care of newborns in Mali is crucial. Save the Children’s Saving Newborn Lives program successfully implemented a newborn care package 2001-2004 through community health volunteers, Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) as well as health center staff at various levels. This pilot program demonstrated an increase in postnatal care visits from four percent to 26 percent in the first three days of life, when the risk of dying for mothers and newborns is highest.