• Submitted by: admin
• Health and Medicine
• 05 / 18 / 2010

---

Norway is the best country in the world in which to be a new mother, followed by Australia, according to Save the Children’s annual State of the World’s Mothers report, issued this month.

Afghanistan was at the bottom of the 160 countries listed.

The United States did not fare well; it was 28th, below Greece, Portugal and virtually all of Western Europe. It ranked just above Poland and most of the former Soviet bloc.

The chief reason for the low American ranking, the authors said, was that despite advanced medical technology, more young mothers die, either in childbirth or in the years after, than in most rich countries.

The United States also lost points because American working mothers get less maternity leave and lower benefits.

Among middle-income countries, Cuba ranked highest, outdoing many wealthier countries. Despite its poverty, Cuba trains many doctors.

The most important factor in how mothers and babies fared in very poor countries was whether or not a female health worker helped at the birth.

Since many men refuse to let their wives be seen by male doctors and many grandmothers give dangerous traditional advice, trained midwives can save lives, the authors said.

After Afghanistan, the worst countries were Niger, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Sudan; many are conservative Muslim countries where education for girls is discouraged.

After Norway and Australia, the top-rated countries were Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, Finland and the Netherlands.

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

Source: www.nytimes.com/