This Handbook focuses on counselling and communicating with women, their families and communities to promote the health of mothers and newborns. When we talk about counselling in this book we are talking about counselling for maternal and newborn health specifically, and this is explored in more detail in the next session. This session provides an introduction to the Handbook. It gives an overview of the content of the Handbook and helps you understand how you can use the Handbook to develop skills in counselling for maternal and newborn health (MNH).