USAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, the Government of Norway, and the World Bank joined together to launch the research program Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development.

This grant opportunity closed on May 9, 2011.

The goal of this program is to find the tools and approaches to help mothers and newborns at their most vulnerable time. We seek groundbreaking prevention and treatment approaches for pregnant women and newborns in rural, low-resource settings around the time of delivery. This is the period when the majority of maternal and newborn deaths occur and the population that has been the most difficult to reach.

We seek innovative ideas that can leapfrog conventional approaches in three main domains: (1) technology; (2) service delivery; and (3) “demand side” innovation that empowers women and their families to be aware of, and access, health care at the time of birth.

How the Program Works

Five partners came together to support this single challenge. Projects will be jointly selected through a unified application process. Successful innovators will be funded and managed independently by one of two funding mechanisms – the USAID Pooled Fund and Grand Challenges Canada, and supported collectively as a community of innovators by all five partners.

Building a Community of Innovators

Partners will work with this community to foster learning and continued innovation. Awardees will receive support and networking assistance from each of the partners, engage with other innovators, and participate in high-level meetings including the Gates Foundation’s annual Grand Challenges in Global Health meeting.