AppId is over the quota
Editor's Choice
Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Aid / Disasters; Pediatrics / Children's Health; Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 09 May 2012 - 14:00 PDT
According to Save the Children's 13th State of the World's Mothers report, Norway is the best place to be a mother in the entire world, and Niger is the worst, overtaking Afghanistan, which for the last two years was classified as the worst place to be a mother. The U.S, as of now, is ranked number 25.
For their study, Save the Children compared 165 countries around the world to determine which ones were the best and worst places to to be a mother. They analyzed certain components to come to their conclusions, such as education, economic status, mother's health, children's health and nutrition.
Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children commented:
"While the U.S has moved up in the rankings, ahead of last year's 31st place, we still fall below most wealthy nations. A woman in the US is more than 7 times as likely to die of a pregnancy-related cause in her lifetime than a woman in Italy or Ireland. When it comes to the number of children enrolled in preschools or the political status of women, the United States also places in the bottom 10 countries of the developed world."
The State of the World's Mothers Report says that nutrition is one of the main reasons why mothers and children are either better or worse off in a certain country. They say that more than one fifth of maternal mortality and more than one third of child mortality is a result of malnutrition.
Norway is the best place to be a mother, Afghanistan is the worst
Of the 10 countries which are found at the bottom of this year's list by Save the Children, 7 are in the middle of a food crisis, and 4 have experienced an increase in "stunting", which is described as a child's mental and physical growth permanently stopping.
Niger, in last place on the list, is going through a severe hunger problem, which as a result, is putting millions of children's lives at stake.
In the report, researchers say that these ongoing problems may be due to a repetitive cycle, one which involves "stunted" mothers continuing to have babies who are underweight and malnourished before birth. This is usually due to the mother's lack of education, poor work conditions and bad health, which then results in lack-luster care towards the child.
According to Save the Children, 20% of women in sub-Saharan Africa, and 35% of women in South Asia are malnourished and too thin.
To break the cycle of malnutrition amongst babies and mothers, the report suggests focusing on the first 1000 days - beginning from pregnancy.
Miles comments:
"The 2012 State of the World's Mothers report shows clearly that this crisis os chronic malnutrition has devastating effects on both mothers and their children. We urgently need global leadership on the malnutrition issue, so that policies and programs are put in place to ensure the health and survival of mothers and their babies."
In two weeks, G8 leaders will come together at Camp David, where president Obama will be focusing on agriculture and food, and Save the Children and The World's Mothers report believes more focus on nutrition is necessary to end this global crisis.
Save the Children also says that the small task of urging mothers to breastfeed could be responsible for saving 1 million children's lives each year. However, the 2012 State of the World's Mothers report states that not even 40% of all babies in developed nations actually get full benefits from breastfeeding. They say this is because of certain nations not having access to informative programs which help mothers to exclusively breastfeed.
Miles continues:
"Our research shows that a mother's breast milk - one single nutrition intervention - can save a million children's lives each year. All mothers should have the support they need to choose to breastfeed if they want to. Breastfeeding is good for babies no matter where they live, but in developing countries, especially those without access to clean water, breastfeeding can be a matter of life or death."
Policy Recommendations: The G8 nations deliver bold commitments to tackle the global hidden crisis of chronic malnutrition that is blighting the lives of millions of mothers and children.All health authorities and governments make fighting malnutrition a priority, setting targets for their own countries and around the world.Low- and middle-income country governments should scale up nutrition programs around the first 1000 days, from a mother's pregnancy to the child's second birthday.The governments of developing countries must commit and fund national nutrition plans of action - including breastfeeding - that are aligned with plans for maternal and child health.Countries that donate resources should continue to keep their commitments to deliver their international assistance budgets, so that governments can continue to invest in global health and development, including nutrition.Written By Christine Kearney
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Visit our pregnancy / obstetrics section for the latest news on this subject. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:
MLA
11 May. 2012.
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
posted by Andreas Richardson on 9 May 2012 at 3:20 pm
I wish studies like these would stop comparing a country with the landmass, population and cultural diversity of the U.S. with countries no bigger than some of our states. First, the assumption that quality of life in California or New York is the same as that in Alabama or Arkansas offends me slightly and does a disservice to everyone involved. Secondly, it more or less makes the results of the study worthless. Parts of the U.S. would top this list and others would fall even lower. I don't understand the point of lumping all 50 states together when a finer grained approach would give a more edifying look into the subject.
| post followup | alert a moderator |
posted by Lisa S. on 9 May 2012 at 3:07 pm
It is striking that the American-based Save the Children spokesperson reports here that the reason behind dismal records of maternal and infant mortality lie in nutrition (specifically mentioning breastfeeding, as well), and reports that "the day a baby is born is the most dangerous day in their life," citing lack of health care attendant for that poor statistic.
These statements are striking because they divert attention from the fact that Americans continually hold maternal and infant health in the hands of the mothers themselves (obesity, poor prenatal care, etc.) and lack of breastfeeding, when our intervention rates, highly medicalized, bureaucratic birth practices, and lack of support of breastfeeding (see need book titled Breasts for latest on this).
I am so tired of living in a supposed democracy that uses century-old tactics to instill fear in mothers at birth, and then blames them for their lack of involvement in the birth. Please, "the most dangerous day of their life?" Maybe so, if they are born in America. I resent the media for not double-checking the statistics before releasing such opinionated poppycock as facts from so-called experts, before airing a story.
This type of journalism with its "West is Best" attitude is what perpetuates the myths that support medicalized birth, at the expense of losing any advantages that are to be gained from less intervention. We are highest among developed nations in C-sections, preterm babies, infant mortality, and other non-flattering statistics--and the best we can come up with is, "well, at least we're not Afghanistan?" When will we see the connections among high intervention rates, C-sections, and poor outcomes. Studies are coming out connecting C-sections to poor lung development, and unnecessary pre-term deliveries...wake up, America. It's not 1950 anymore. Not all qualified, skilled birth attendants wear white coats and stethoscopes, bearing medical school degrees.
Surgeons are not always the BEST, nor certainly the STANDARD of care. Quite making a false relationship between M.D.-deliveries and good mother getting the best of care. Strive for mothers all around the world being attended by skilled attendants? Yes. Defining the skills of those attendants based on our hegemonic practices here in the US? No.
| post followup | alert a moderator |
posted by Lyle Ernst on 9 May 2012 at 2:29 pm
Where are the standings of best country for mothers? this is a very brief article on an extremely important issue.
| post followup | alert a moderator |
'What Is The Best And Worst Place To Be A Mother Worldwide?'
Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.
If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.
All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)
Contact Our News Editors
For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.
Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:
Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.
View the original article here
No comments:
Post a Comment