text: Building resilient societies after COVID 19 the case for investing in maternal neonatal and child health Resilient societies respond rapidly and effectively to health challenges and the associated economic consequences and adapt to be more responsive to future challenges Although it is only possible to recognise resilience retrospectively the COVID 19 pandemic has occurred at a point in human history when uniquely sufficient knowledge is available on the early life determinants of health to indicate clearly that a focus on maternal neonatal and child health MNCH will promote later resilience This knowledge offers an unprecedented opportunity to disrupt entrenched strategies and to reinvest in MNCH in the post COVID 19 so called new normal Furthermore analysis of the short term medium term and longer term consequences of previous socioeconomic shocks provides important insights into those domains of MNCH such as neurocognitive development and nutrition for which investment will generate the greatest benefit Such considerations apply to high income countries HICs and low income and middle income countries LMICs However implementing appropriate policies in the post COVID 19 recovery period will be challenging and requires political commitment and public engagement 