Best and Worst Countries to Be a Mother

Every year three million babies die within the first month of life and more than one million of them die the day they are born, according to NGO Save the Children. The humanitarian organization released its annual State of the World’s Mothers report which showed the best and the worst countries around the world to be a mother.

London based organization Save the Children announced its report for 2013 on Tuesday right before Mother’s Day which will be celebrated this Sunday in the United States. The report rates the well-being of mothers and children in a total of 176 countries based on various factors such as breastfeeding, newborn health, mother’s education, economic and political status of the family and the country, and many others. In addition, conditions for mothers – risk of maternal death, infant mortality rate, gross national income per capita, number of years that the child spends in school, and participation of women in government, have been gathered to form the so-called Mother’s Index. According to it, Nordic countries are the best places to be a mother, and the worst countries are located in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

2013 Mothers’ Index Rankings

Finland tops the ranking, followed by Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Netherlands, and Denmark. Then, at the 7th place we can see Spain, Belgium and Germany are next, at 8 and 9, and the only non-European country in the Top 10 is Australia. According to the report, factors, influencing the Index here are the widely available and high quality healthcare, high school retention, and state assistance and support.

The bottom ten in the list are Cote d’Ivoire (167), Chad, Nigeria, Gambia, Central African Republic, Niger, Mali, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and the worst place for mothers and babies is DR Congo. In fact, 40 percent of the first day newborn deaths are in Sub-Saharan Africa, and usually babies are dying of preventable things such as infection or not breathing at birth.

The Worst Countries for Babies

However, the country with the most first-day deaths is India with 847 dead babies per day. It accounts for 29 percent of all first-day deaths around the world which is quite a serious statistics and there are several reasons cited by the report. First of all, around 28 percent of newborns in South Asia are underweight due to poor maternal health. The early childbearing age and the low incomes in the region are another essential factor. Second in the list comes Nigeria, Pakistan is at third position, then we can see China, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Tanzania.

Here are other interesting facts from the 2013 State of the World’s Mothers report:

• 3 million babies die within the first month; more than one million die on their birthday;
• In the bottom-ranked countries: 8 out of 10 women are likely to suffer the loss of a child in their lifetime; 1 child in 7 dies before his or her fifth birthday;
• Cheap interventions, costing between 13 cents and six dollars could save lives.

Interestingly, the United States is ranked 30th, which is around the bottom of industrialized countries, and it’s even below Belarus and Lithuania. Moreover, the United States leads industrialized countries in first day deaths! In comparison, the United Arab Emirates is at No.50, followed by Chile and Hungary.