It is safest to be a mother in Scandinavian countries - and most dangerous in African ones

BBC News:

Some two million babies born every year in the developing world die on the first day of their lives, the Save the Children charity has said.

A report by the charity says most die from preventable causes, such as infections, a difficult birth or low birth weight.

It says many of the lives could be saved by simple, cheap techniques.

The charity also found it is safest to be a mother in Scandinavian countries - and most dangerous in African ones.

The findings come in the charity's annual report, State of the World's Mothers 2006.

It reveals that some 60 million mothers in the developing world give birth at home every year, without a skilled person to help.

More than three million babies are stillborn each year, and about four million die within one month, of disease or complications of childbirth.

Half of those die on the first day of their lives.

US Infant Survival Rates Lower Than Most Developed Nations'

Malawi : Teenage marriages heighten maternal mortality