As the world marks World Prematurity Day, global health agencies are calling attention to the increasing challenges faced by babies born too soon and the families who care for them.
The 2025 theme, “Give preterm babies a strong start for a hopeful future,” aligns with the World Health Organisation’s, WHO, Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures campaign, underscoring that “every child deserves a fair chance at life, starting from their very first moments.”
WHO reports that complications from preterm birth have become the leading cause of death among children under five, accounting for 22.8 percent of under-five deaths in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. With 11 percent of babies in the region born prematurely, the need for strengthened maternal and newborn services is pressing.
The situation is particularly dire in conflict-affected countries. In Gaza, more than 4000 babies are born each month, and during the first half of 2025, “one in three was premature, underweight or required intensive neonatal care,” according to WHO. In Sudan, conflict has displaced 14 million people, leaving mothers with “a ten-fold higher risk of dying in childbirth.” In Yemen, the stillbirth rate is 50 percent higher than the global average.
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“Childbirth does not pause for conflict,” WHO said.
Pregnant women often endure siege conditions without food, clean water or electricity. In damaged or powerless hospitals, caesarean sections are performed under flashlight, and premature babies are wrapped in foil to maintain warmth. Health workers, the agency noted, “struggle to keep newborns alive with almost nothing.”
Malnutrition remains a major driver of premature birth. Undernourished mothers are more likely to deliver early or lose their babies within hours. When hospitals are attacked, fuel supplies restricted and supply chains disrupted, maternal and newborn survival becomes even more precarious.
Beyond conflict, the region’s high burden of preterm births stems from longstanding inequities, including maternal undernutrition, weak referral systems, limited neonatal care and shortages of trained health staff. In Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, large numbers of women continue to give birth without skilled assistance, contributing to preventable deaths of newborns.
WHO, UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and partner organisations are scaling up evidence-based interventions for preterm and low-birth-weight infants under the Every Newborn Action Plan. These efforts focus on improving data systems, service delivery, workforce training and financing.
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To mark World Prematurity Day 2025, WHO is launching “Kangaroo mother care (KMC): a clinical practice guide,” promoting this simple, low-cost method as routine care for preterm and low-birth-weight babies. KMC, which involves prolonged skin-to-skin contact and exclusive breastfeeding, has been proven to significantly reduce newborn deaths.
Global commitments also received a boost in 2024, when the World Health Assembly adopted Resolution WHA77.5, reaffirming efforts to reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality in line with Sustainable Development Goals 3.1 and 3.2. However, WHO warns that reductions in official development assistance are already undermining progress. Its data show drops of up to 70 percent in antenatal, delivery and neonatal services in several low- and middle-income countries.
To cushion the impact of shrinking funds, WHO and partners are supporting governments to prioritise essential services, safeguard health budgets and integrate donor-funded programmes into primary health care systems.
In humanitarian settings, the immediate priority is to keep mothers and newborns alive by ensuring safe deliveries, emergency neonatal care including KMC and secure humanitarian access. In recovery contexts, efforts focus on restoring supply chains, rehabilitating maternity facilities and training frontline health workers. In more stable countries, the emphasis is on prevention and innovation to curb preterm births.