In 2006, the Mexican government initiated the Seguro Popular (SP) to improve access and quality of health care for the poor. Two of its programs included the Sistema de Proteccion Social en Salud, an innovative health insurance system for the poor who were not previously insured, and the Seguro Medico para una Nueva Generacion which provided integrated health services for all children under 5 years of age. The SP contracted with a team of researchers from the Centro de Estudios Economicos y Sociales en Salud of the Hospital Enfantil de Mexico Federico Gomez and UC Berkeley to evaluate the effects of the SP on neonatal health. The study included assessment of the quality of care in more than 60 Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU), primary and secondary neonatal care facilities operated by the Secretary of Health; analysis of birth certificates from 2008, 2009, and 2010; analysis of neonatal death certificates for 2008 and 2009, and NICU invoices to the SP.

Between 2008 and 2010, the proportion of mothers affiliated with SP rose from 23% to 41% while the proportion of births in SP facilities remained at 50%, and the proportion of those receiving antenatal care (96%), the proportion beginning antenatal care in the first trimester (72%) and the median number of antenatal care visits (7) all remained the same. In all of Mexico, the proportion of singleton babies with birth weights under 2500g rose slightly between 2008 and 2010 from 8.3% to 8,7% while the proportion born preterm with less than 37 weeks gestation (6.7%) and the proportion born with a caesarean section (45%) did not change. In general, the neonatal care facilities assessed in 2010 demonstrated acceptable quality with appropriate quality of care for respiratory distress syndrome. The neonatal mortality rate is 9.2/1000 live births.