This review examines evidence on life-course approaches to maternal and newborn health and, in particular, on outcomes and critical success factors for implementation. It found few frameworks or programs that take a life-course approach that had been implemented and most initiatives did not report on long-term outcomes. The lack of proven strategies may be because the life-course approach is relatively new to policy and programming, despite the longitudinal evidence that early life affects later health. While three programs evaluated long-term outcomes and all found a positive impact, they targeted specific groups. These programs would need to be implemented and evaluated more broadly to test their applicability to the general population.
Citation
Bell J, Norris S, Shand AW, Lain S, Hall B et al. Healthy mothers and babies – a life-course approach : an Evidence Check rapid review brokered by the Sax Institute for the NSW Ministry of Health 
