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Save the Children ranks the best and worst places to be a mother

by Katy Migiro | @katymigiro | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Tuesday, 6 May 2014 10:20 GMT

Pregnant women paint their bellies to celebrate "Healthy Maternity Week" in Lima, on May 30, 2013. REUTERS/Enrique Castro-Mendivil

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NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – In Finland, a woman’s chance of dying due to pregnancy is one in 12,200, one of the factors that makes it the best place to be a mother. In Somalia, rated the worst place to be a mother, the risk of death is a scary one in 16.

This mothers' index is part of State of the World's Mothers, an annual report by Save the Children released on Tuesday which ranks 178 countries around the world according to five factors: maternal and under-five death rates, expected number of years of formal schooling, gross national income per capita and the percentage of seats held by women in national government.

The top performers are in Europe, while the bottom ones are African countries that have a recent history of armed conflict and are defined as fragile states by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“Ending preventable deaths of mothers and children will not be possible until fragile countries become more stable and health care more accessible,” the Save the Children report said.

Here are the rankings:

Top 10

1) Finland

2) Norway

3) Sweden

4) Iceland

5) Netherlands

6) Denmark

7) Spain

8) Germany

9*) Australia

9*) Belgium

Bottom 10

169) Cote D’Ivoire

170) Chad

171) Nigeria

172) Sierra Leone

173) Central African Republic

174) Guinea-Bissau

175*) Mali

175*) Niger

177) Democratic Republic of Congo

178) Somalia

*Countries are tied

Source: State of the World’s Mothers

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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