America drops to 33rd place in list of world's best place to be a mother

• In last year's Save the Children's State of the World's Mothers Index, US was ranked 31st
• Findings from the report released on Monday revealed Norway is the top-ranked country while Somalia is the lowest-ranked
• Washington DC is most dangerous city in developed world to be born in with the highest infant mortality rate of world's richest capitals, report said
• US also has highest maternal death rates in developed world with American women facing a one in 1,800 risk of maternal death 

By Myriah Towner For Dailymail.com and Reuters

Published: 18:27 EST, 5 May 2015 | Updated: 23:44 EST, 5 May 2015

The world's best place to be a mother is Norway as the United States drops to 33rd place in an annual survey.

Last year, the US was ranked 31st but fell two spots in this year's Save the Children's annual State of the World's Mothers report that was released on Monday. 

Somalia ranked as the worst place to be a mother for the second year running with findings showing almost 15 per cent of Somali children do not live to see their fifth birthday, the charity said.

The country was ranked below the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and Mali.

The US ranks 33rd in Save the Children's annual State of the World's Mother index. Findings also showed that Washington, DC has the highest infant mortality rate of all the world's richest capitals (above a mother and child living in Washington, DC)

Other countries that came ahead of the US included Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden, all of which are apart of the top five, in the survey that rates 179 countries based on maternal and child health, children's access to education and women's political and economic status.

Findings from the report revealed that Washington, DC has the highest infant mortality rate of all the world's richest capitals as 6.6 babies die per 1,000 live births - making the US capital the most dangerous city in the developed world to be born.

In contrast, only 1.6 babies die per 1,000 live births in the Czech capital Prague, which topped the charity's index measuring child survival in the world's wealthiest capitals.

Babies born in Ward Eight in Washington, DC, just four miles from the White House, were ten times more likely to die before their first birthday than babies born in the city's most affluent Ward Three, the study showed.

'It's survival of the richest,' said Carolyn Miles, chief executive of Save the Children USA, in a statement.

Norway ranked as the world's best place to be a mother coming ahead of Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden (above Mother Mai Simonsen, 34, with her son Conrad, 5 months old, on a city tram in Oslo, Norway)

Unemployment, poverty and murder rates in Ward Eight, where 93 per cent of the population of 71,000 are black, are among the nation's highest.

'The underlying health of mothers... in these poor communities is not good,' Miles told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.

The survey also found that out of the 50 largest US cities, those with the highest infant death rates included Cleveland, Detroit, Baltimore, Memphis and Raleigh. 

Prematurity was cited as the leading killer of Detroit babies with other contributing factors leading to infant deaths including pervasive poverty, young and uninformed mothers and poor prenatal care, according to the report. 

The United States also has the highest maternal death rates in the developed world with American women facing a one in 1,800 risk of maternal death compared to less than one in 19,000 in Poland.

Somalia was ranked as the worst place to be a mother among Mali, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo (above a mother and child living in Darwish IDP camp in Mogadishu, Somalia)

'An American woman is more than ten times as likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth as a Polish woman,' Save the Children said in a statement.

The ten worst places to be a mother were sub-Saharan countries including Sierra Leone and Gambia, according to Yahoo News, with nine of them being wracked by conflict.

For mothers in the bottom countries, conditions for them and their children are grim as on average, one woman in 30 dies from pregnancy-related causes, according to the report.

The contrast between Norway and Somalia is striking considering for instance that one Somali woman in 18 is likely to eventually die of a maternal cause where in Norway, dying in pregnancy or childbirth is a one in 15,000 chance.

In Norway, children have access to good health and education but in Somalia almost 15 per cent of children do not live to see their fifth birthday, according to the report. 

Comments (164)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now