They expressed concerns in their letter towards the heterogeneity of the data that were used in our meta-analysis. If incidences differ between regions and populations, absolute numbers on colonisation and neonatal infections might not be comparable. However, new policies were implemented in various settings, where differences in outcomes were measured under the same local circumstances. So as rightly mentioned by Lamont et al, data from the US cannot and should not be used as a blueprint for other parts of the world.1 Yet the general trend in developed countries that we observed, might shed some new light on the respective effectiveness of the strategies currently available.