uncertainty surrounds these estimates due to an almost complete lack of reliable vital registration systems from settings where mortality is highest.3 Thus analyses are based on retrospective household surveys, and most cause specific data rely on verbal autopsy without consistent definitions and algorithms. Deaths within the first 24 hours are likely underreported or misclassified as stillbirths.3,7 Nevertheless, early neonatal mortality, especially within the first day after birth, is thought to contribute substantially to the overall neonatal mortality rates.3,7,8 Currently,