Sri Lanka has developed a notable neonatal retrieval service, primarily through efforts at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo. This service was initiated in 2013 by the Perinatal Society of Sri Lanka and scaled up through, the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians (SLCP) and the Family Health Bureau (FHB).
The program has been instrumental in reducing infant mortality by ensuring that premature and low birth weight babies receive timely and appropriate medical care during transport. As a result, babies arrive at the receiving hospitals in better condition, which has significantly improved their survival rates and health outcomes.
The neonatal retrieval team operates within the Western and Southern provinces, retrieving critically ill newborns from various hospitals and transporting them to specialized care units, targeting the SDG in reducing the neonatal mortality in the country.
Moreover, the success of this program and the dire need has led to its planned expansion beyond Colombo to other parts of the country, through continuous surveillance by the SLCP and FHB.