We must rethink how we care for newborns

Hear from Paediatric surgeon at GOSH, Professor Paolo De Coppi on the findings of new Lancet paper exploring how best to improve care for newborns. 

As a paediatric surgeon, I’ve spent my career caring for some of the sickest and smallest patients, including newborns who arrive in this world needing immediate, complex, and often life-saving care. At Great Ormond Street Hospital, we see many of these babies, and we’re proud to be part of a global community pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in neonatal care.

But we’re not moving fast enough.

A recent report from The Lancet on the future of neonatology makes this painfully clear – I was among the diverse group of authors from across the world in the fields of pharmacy, surgery, obstetrics and wider paediatrics. While survival rates have improved over the years, too many newborns still die or face lifelong health challenges because we lack the right tools, treatments, and systems to support them. Most medicines we use in newborn care weren’t even designed for babies. Newborn or ‘neonatal’ research is a relatively new field and we want the entire research and innovation community to see this as an opportunity to save and change lives.

This isn’t a problem any one hospital or country can solve alone. The report calls for a global alliance, bringing together doctors, researchers, regulators, families, and industry, to drive real change. It’s a call I wholeheartedly support.

At GOSH, we’re fortunate to have world-leading expertise and facilities. But we also know that the best outcomes come when we collaborate across disciplines, across borders, and with the families we serve. Innovation doesn’t happen in silos. It happens when we listen, learn, and build together.

If we don’t act, we risk more than missed opportunities, we risk lives. Investing in newborn health isn’t just about survival. It’s about giving every child the best possible start in life, and in doing so, strengthening the health and wellbeing of future generations.

This is a moment for leadership, but also for humility. We must champion innovation, yes—but we must also ensure it’s inclusive, ethical, and grounded in the real needs of babies and their families.

Let’s not wait for change. Let’s lead it, together.

You can read the full report here: The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health Commission on the future of neonatology - The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health