Neonatal deaths currently cause about 1.6 million deaths annually in developing countries. Sepsis and meningitis are responsible for most of these deaths. Hospital-born babies in developing countries are at increased risk of neonatal infections because of poor intrapartum and postnatal infection-control practices. The organisms responsible for neonatal septicemia vary across geographical boundaries and in time of onset. Resistance to commonly used antibiotics is emerging and constitutes an important problem worldwide. To reduce global neonatal mortality, strategies of proven efficacy, such as hand washing, barrier nursing, restriction of antibiotic use, and rationalization of admission to neonatal units, need to be implemented.