Best (and worst) Countries for Motherhood
Save the Children has released their most recent report on the State of the World's Mothers and one of the features is a rank of the countries based on a number of maternal and child health indicators. This report not only shows the top countries for motherhood, but discusses very thoroughly the devastating health conditions that far too many mothers, infants, and children experience around the world, and thus the worst countries for motherhood. The countries are ranked based on scores in certain indicators including female education, political representation, MCH policies (such as maternity leave), life expectancy, maternal and infant mortality rates, etc. To exemplify the extremes, In Niger (#165) the life expectancy for women is 56 compared to 83 in Norway (#1), which offers one of the best maternity leave policies in the world. Every mother in Niger is likely to suffer the loss of a child. These rankings give you an idea of the overall picture of maternal health and motherho...