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New Zealand mothers are among the luckiest in the world, a new international survey from Save the Children says.
The survey ranks New Zealand the fourth best place in the world to be a mother, based on health and financial considerations behind Sweden, Iceland and Norway.
The country would rank even higher, but is brought down by its poor record in caring for children -- the report ranks New Zealand 20th equal out of 43 comparable countries in terms of child well-being.
Six in every 1000 New Zealand children die before reaching the age of five.
This is twice the number of the best ranked country for child well-being -- Iceland, which records three child deaths for every 1000.
The annual report, The State of the World's Mothers (pdf), analyses indicators such as the risk of maternal mortality, female life expectancy, use of contraception, female education, ratio of female to male income, and access to health care.
It also examines the under-five mortality rate to establish conditions for children, before putting the two together to establish the Mothers' Index.
The report focuses on mothers as it says providing mothers with access to education, economic opportunities and maternal and child health care gives mothers and children the best chance to survive and thrive.
This is the eighth time the report has been produced, and this year it surveys 140 countries.
The report says: "The top 10 countries, in general, attain very high scores for mothers' and children's health, educational and economic status. Niger ranks last among the 140 countries surveyed. The 10-bottom ranked countries -- nine from sub-Saharan Africa -- are a reverse image of the top 10, performing poorly on all indicators."
In countries at the bottom of the table, on average one in 13 mothers will die from pregnancy-related causes. Nearly one in five children die before their fifth birthday.
When comparing Sweden -- at the top of the table -- with bottom-ranked Niger, the results are dramatic.
Skilled health personnel are present at virtually every birth in Sweden, while only 16 per cent of births are attended in Niger.
A typical Swedish woman will live to be 83, 72 per cent are using some modern method of contraception and four children in every 1000 will die before the age of five.
In contrast, in Niger, a typical woman will live to be 45. Only 4 per cent of women are using modern contraception, and one child in four dies before age five. Every mother is likely to suffer the deaths of two children.
In New Zealand, the average woman will live until the age of 82, 72 per cent use modern forms of contraception, and six children in every 1000 will not reach their fifth birthday.
In the developing world, more than half of under-five deaths are caused by pneumonia, diarrhoea or newborn conditions.
In the world's wealthier nations, child deaths are most likely the result of injury suffered in traffic accidents, intentional harm, drowning, falling, fire and poisoning.
- NZPA
