The UP/SAMRC Research Centre for Maternal, Fetal, Newborn and Child Health Care Strategies was established in 1997 as a research unit under the directorship of Prof RC Pattinson.

The unit’s inception saw it exist as an extra-mural unit of the South African Medical Research Council (SA-MRC) under the title; The Maternal and Infant Health Care Strategies Research Unit (MIHCSU).

In 2017, the centre was awarded a research centre status under the University of Pretoria, where it would have to report to an advisory board. The current director of the UP Research Centre for Maternal, Fetal, Newborn and Child Health Care Strategies is Prof Ute Feucht, she co-directs the SAMRC research unit with Prof RC Pattinson.

Presently, the centre reports to the SAMRC and the University of Pretoria and functions as a research centre. 

The centres' research focus is developing and implementing effective interventions in maternal, newborn and child health care at primary and secondary levels of care. Contributions have been made both nationally by providing national audit reports and internationally by collaboration with various universities and agencies. In the last decade, more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles have been published.