Surviving The First Day - State Of The World's Mothers - 2013

Save The Children released a report this week entitled "Surviving The First Day - State Of the World's Mothers - 2013. A study was done on being a mother in the countries of the world. Every year 3 million children die within the first 3 months of life. 1 million children die on their first day of life. The statistics are reflected according to the poverty and development of the country.

 Included in the report is a Birth Day Risk Index for dying on the first day. Heading this sad index are African countries such is Somalia, Congo, Mali, Sierra Leone and Central African Republic. In Somalia 18 of 1,000 babies die the first day. Haiti's results are not so good either. 9 of 1,000 babies born die during their 1st day of life.

A second index in this report is the Mothers Index Rankings on which country is the worst/best to have a baby. The best places were in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands. Canada is in the 22nd place and the United States is at place number 30. The Dominican Republic is in the 92nd place and Haiti comes in at 164. The worst country to be a mother and birth children is the Democratic Republic of Congo which finishes in last place at position 176. Here is a sampling of results for some of the countries:

CANADA
Lifetime Risk of Maternal Death................................   1 in 5,200
Under-5 Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births) .....................   5.6
Expected Number of Years of Formal Schooling ................  15.1
Gross National Income Per Capita ................................   $45,560
Participation of Women In National Government ................ 28%
Mothers Index Rank (out of 176 countries)..............................22

UNITED STATES
Lifetime Risk of Maternal Death................................ 1 in  2,400
Under-5 Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births) .....................  7.5
Expected Number of Years of Formal Schooling ................ 16.8
Gross National Income Per Capita ................................  $48,620
Participation of Women In National Government ............. 18.2%
Mothers Index Rank (out of 176 countries)............................. 30

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Lifetime Risk of Maternal Death................................... 1 in  240
Under-5 Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births) ...................  24.7
Expected Number of Years of Formal Schooling ................ 12.3
Gross National Income Per Capita ................................     $5,240
Participation of Women In National Government ............. 19.1%
Mothers Index Rank (out of 176 countries)............................. 92

HAITI
Lifetime Risk of Maternal Death................................       1 in 83
Under-5 Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births) .....................   70
Expected Number of Years of Formal Schooling ................   7.6
Gross National Income Per Capita ................................       $700
Participation of Women In National Government ............... 3.5%
Mothers Index Rank (out of 176 countries)............................ 164

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Lifetime Risk of Maternal Death..................................... 1 in 30
Under-5 Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births) ................. 167.7
Expected Number of Years of Formal Schooling ...............   8.5
Gross National Income Per Capita ..................................... $190
Participation of Women In National Government ............. 8.3%
Mothers Index Rank (out of 176 countries).........................  176

Mothers Day is coming up in Canada this weekend. Pray for mothers and babies/children who live in the countries where being a mother comes at a high risk. Pray for development of the countries who are at risk, that life can improve for a mother and child.

There are 2 videos that provide a lot of information about Mother/Baby Health and Risks. They appear below: