Abstract
Guidance is needed regarding potential extension of the World Health Organization recommendation for cord cleansing with chlorhexidine to babies born in facilities. Among 3223 facility-born babies from Nepal and Bangladesh, mortality was approximately halved among those allocated to the intervention clusters [10.5/1000 vs. 19.4/1000; relative risk (RR): 0.54; 95% confidence interval: 0.30-0.97]. In high-mortality settings, a single policy for home and facility births is warranted.