The neonatal period is recognized as a brief, critical time that requires focused interventions to reach the Millennium Development Goal of a two-thirds reduction in child mortality by 2015. In India there are one million neonatal deaths every year, representing approximately a quarter of all global neonatal deaths. Neonatal deaths account for about 38% of the annual 10.6 million child deaths recorded worldwide and nearly half of the deaths in children under 5