Have you ever wondered the best place to be a mom in the entire world? How about the worst?
Save the Children’s thirteenth State of the World’s Mothers report shows Niger as the worst place to be a mother in the world – replacing Afghanistan for the first time in two years. Norway comes in at first place. The Best and Worst Places to Be a Mom ranking, which compares 165 countries around the globe, looks at factors such as a mother’s health, education and economic status, as well as critical child indicators such as health and nutrition.
Let’s take a look at the country comparisons: Niger/Norway:
-Almost 100% of births are attended by skilled health personnel in Norway compared to one-third in Niger
-A girl will receive on average 18 years of formal education in Norway versus 4 years in Niger
-82% of Norwegian women use modern contraception compared to 5% of women in Niger
-A child’s risk of death in Norway is 1/333 compared to 1 in 7 in Niger
-In Norway, the risk of maternal death is 1/7,600. In Niger, 1 woman in 16 will die from pregnancy related causes.
-In Norway, nearly 40 % of parliamentary seats are held by women; in Niger only 13 %.
Globally, malnutrition claims more than 2.6 million young lives each year, and, of those who survive, 171 million face a hidden crisis of chronic malnutrition which stunts their physical and mental growth and leaves them unable to ever reach their full potential.
Of the ten countries at the bottom of Save the Children’s annual index, seven are in the midst of a food crisis. Niger, in bottom place, is currently in the grip of a worsening hunger situation, threatening the lives of a million children. Four of the bottom ten countries have seen an increase in stunting over the past two decades – where children’s mental and physical growth is permanently blighted by malnutrition.
The report details a vicious cycle of young mothers, who may themselves have been stunted in childhood, going on to give birth to underweight babies who have not been adequately nourished in the womb. If a mother is impoverished, overworked, poorly educated and in poor health, she may not be able to feed the baby adequately, with largely irreversible effects. Save the Children notes that in sub-Saharan Africa, up to 20% of women are classified as excessively thin, while that figure rises to up to 35 percent in South Asia. The report highlights that the best method for breaking this cycle and protecting the pregnant mother and her baby from malnutrition is to focus on the first 1000 days starting from pregnancy.
In new research for the report, Save the Children found that the simple measure of supporting mothers to breastfeed could save one million children’s lives a year. Yet the report also shows that less than 40% of all infants in developing countries receive the full benefits of exclusive breastfeeding. This is due, in part, to countries lacking strong commitment and complimentary programs that enable mothers to breastfeed.
What can we do? Convince our government and all governments to flight malnutrition. How can we do that? Head over to www.savethechildren.org/world-mothers to get more information and take a stand.
Please also go to www.motherhood2012.net on Tuesday 8th of May at 10:00 EST / 15:00 BST to see a global video conference, featuring high profile mpms from around the world talking about motherhood and child health.
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