The Best and Worst Places to Be a Mother

A few weeks ago some positive news appeared about the reduction in maternal mortality rates. The number of women dying annually in pregnancy or child birth has declined sharply, from 526,300 in 1980 to 342,900 in 2008.

More recent news fills in some detail. Earlier in the week, Save the Children released its 11th annual Mother's Index, which breaks down the numbers on maternal mortality and shows where the problem is mostly concentrated. Afghanistan, Niger, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Sudan, Eritrea and Equatorial Guinea make up the bottom 10 countries in the Index. Most of these countries are in Sub Saharan Africa, where poverty rates are highest in the world. In Niger, 1 woman in 7 dies in pregnancy or childbirth. Niger is also a country where the typical woman receives less than four years of formal education. All of the countries in the top ten have maternal mortality rates as dismal as Niger’s.

Among countries that top the list, i.e. where maternal mortality rates are lowest, the risk is more like one in the tens of thousands. In Ireland, which tops the list, it's one in 47,600. The United States comes in 28th, with one of the highest rates of maternal mortality for a developed country, 1 in 4,800.

Maternal health is always a factor in areas with high rates of child mortality. In Afghanistan, for instance, where the risk of maternal mortality is 1 in 8, more than a quarter of all children die before reaching the age of five.

While we should applaud the progress that’s been made globally, that doesn’t mean we should take our eye off the problem in places where it is still no better than before.