The purpose of this policy brief is to inform deliberations among policymakers and stakeholders on optimising roles of health cadres in the delivery of maternal and child health. It summarises the best available evidence regarding the design and implementation of policies for extending the roles of non-medically trained primary health care workers (”task shifting”) to deliver cost-effective maternal and child health interventions. This brief was prepared for discussion at meetings of those engaged in developing policies for task shifting and other stakeholders with an interest in these policy decisions. In addition, it is intended to inform other stakeholders and to engage them in deliberations about those policies. It is not intended to prescribe or proscribe specific options or implementation strategies. Rather, its purpose is to allow stakeholders to systematically and transparently consider the available evidence about the likely impacts of different options for task shifting.