Eight of the ten worst places to be a mother in the world are from sub-Saharan Africa, and Afghanistan is the most unfriendly country for moms, according to the latest State of the World's Mothers report published by Save the Children, a global independent humanitarian organization.
The report surveyed the well-being of mothers and children in 164 countries, and ranked the best and worst places to be a mother by measuring a country's performance on a range of indicators related to health, nutrition, educational, economic and political status.
The bottom ten countries, in a striking contrast with the top 10, received very poor scores on all indicators. The clear leader, Afghanistan, has the lowest female life expectancy and the highest lifetime risk of maternal mortality in the world. On average, women there will not live beyond 45 years, and one in 11 will die from pregnancy-related causes. Only 14 percent of births are attended by skilled health personnel, and one out of 5 children dies before 5 years old.
Following are the top ten worst countries to be a mother as compiled by Save the Children
Rank |
Country |
Life Expectancy |
Expected Years of Education |
Lifetime Risk of Maternal Death (1 in number stated) |
Percent of Births Attended by Skilled Health Personnel |
1 |
Afghanistan |
45 |
5 |
11 |
14 |
2 |
Niger |
53 |
4 |
16 |
33 |
3 |
Guinea-Bissau |
50 |
5 |
18 |
39 |
4 |
Yemen |
66 |
7 |
91 |
36 |
5 |
Chad |
51 |
5 |
14 |
14 |
6 |
DR Congo |
50 |
7 |
24 |
74 |
7 |
Eritrea |
63 |
4 |
72 |
28 |
8 |
Mali |
50 |
7 |
22 |
49 |
9 |
Sudan |
60 |
6 |
32 |
49 |
10 |
Central African Republic |
49 |
5 |
27 |
44 |
Also see Top 10 best places to be mom