POVERTY: Maternal death statistics

DAKAR, 4 May 2010 (IRIN) - Eight of the bottom 10-ranked countries in Save the Children's annual Mothers Index, which ranks the best and worst places to be a mother, are in sub-Saharan Africa, says the NGO. Afghanistan, Niger, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Sudan, Eritrea and Equatorial Guinea form the bottom 10; while Norway, Australia, Iceland and Sweden come top. One in seven women dies in pregnancy or childbirth in Niger and one in eight in Afghanistan and Sierra Leone; while the risk is one in 25,000 in Greece and one in 47,600 in Ireland. "The problems around maternal and newborn health have been raised for many years, but there still remains so much to be done," Houleyemata Diarra, Save the Children's newborn health regional adviser for Africa, told IRIN from Mali. "There are not enough skilled attendants at births, and governments are not taking into account where health workers are needed - in communities."