Where Becoming a Mother Kills

Want to know which countries are the worst places to get pregnant in? Take a look at State of the World's Mothers, an annual report compiled by Save the Children that ranks 160 countries. Out of the bottom 10, eight of them are African nations — Niger, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Sudan, Eritrea and Equatorial Guinea. Afghanistan and Yemen round out the list.

Just how dangerous is it to give birth in these places? In Niger, fully one woman in 7 perishes during childbirth — that's 14% of pregnant or birthing women. In Afghanistan and Sierra Leone, the number is one in 8. These are some really scary statistics. By contrast, in Ireland, that figure is just one in 47,600.

As part of tackling maternal mortality in these countries, Save the Children recommends greater support for front-line health workers. Not surprisingly, in countries where access to birth control is most limited, the shortage of "skilled birth attendants" is also the deadliest. Women in such regions "face the most pregnancies and the most risky birth situations," says Save the Children's Mary Beth Powers.

The report also reflects just how correspondingly low the status of women is in the previously listed countries. For example, in Afghanistan and Yemen, women earn just 1/4 of what men make — or $0.25 for every dollar their male counterparts take in. In Niger, women spend an average of just four years in school. You get the picture: too often for women in poor countries, biology is destiny, and many end up dead because of it.

Personally, I had my first child in Ethiopia, a country where only 6% of the births are attended by a trained professional. But I was able to access the best obstetrics care the country could offer, because I had the money to pay for those services. The disparity in access to care is isn't just about the contrast between rich and poor nations. It also exists within each country — with the largest differences occurring between urban and rural areas.

In the end, the report concludes with something we all know. In addition to improving access to healthcare, education plays an important role. After all, an educated girl grows up to be a woman with choices. She'll have better economic prospects than a woman without schooling. And her higher income doesn't just translate into a better likelihood that she'll survive motherhood, either. It also means her children, too, are more likely to make it into adulthood.

Photo Credit: Marc Veraart