Belarus lies in the 26th place in the Mothers’ Index compiled by the international humanitarian organization Save the Children. The index
compares the well-being of mothers in the world.
The experts of the international organization took into account five factors: maternity death rate, the death rate among the children from 0 to 5 years old, women’s education level, gross national income and women’s role in political life.
        The countries of Northern Europe topped the 2013 index with Finland being first, Sweden second and Norway third. Other top-10 states in the index are Iceland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Australia. The United States are 30th.
Mothers in Africa have the worst conditions, particularly in Chad, Nigeria, Gambia, the Central African Republic, Niger and Mali. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the last on the list of 176 countries. Women in the DRC face high risk to die in childbirth with child mortality being one of the highest in the world. Every sixth child under the age of five dies there.
Experts point out that the situation with child and mother’s healthcare has improved worldwide over the last 20 years.