The Perinatal Conferences were established in 1982 by Alan Rothberg, formerly Head of the Division of Neonatology at the Johannesburg Hospital and Professor and Head of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of the Witwatersrand.

The Conference serves to bring together a range of health professionals involved in and committed to maternal and perinatal health. Through some of the darkest years of South Africa's history, contacts were established and maintained between universities, medical and allied disciplines, urban and rural areas and academic and non-academic centres. Important international links were also forged with many experts in the field of perinatology.