The paper reviewed existing literature on private sector initiatives that have shown effectiveness in improving maternal and neonatal health. The private sector constitutes a significant proportion of delivery services for women in developing countries and it also plays a key role in family planning, abortion, nutrition, and antenatal care. The paper primarily addresses maternal health outcomes and includes interventions that improve neonatal health outcomes where they are included in the study design or interventional strategy alongside maternal outcomes. Evidence that addresses neonatal outcomes alone are not reviewed which are beyond the scope of this paper.