The World's Best and Worst Places to Be a Mother

Each Mother's Day, I celebrate the two most miraculous, deliriously happy days of my life -- the days I gave birth to my two children. What I counted on: health care, a safe and sanitary environment, and supportive and trained birth personnel. It would have never occurred to me, a resident of the United States giving birth in a very typical way in a wealthy nation, is that the days I gave birth could have been the most dangerous and deadly of my life.

But in many parts of the developing world, the day a woman becomes a mother is a day too often obscured by terrible tragedy and danger. She will face losing her baby and losing her own life.

According to international development organization, Save the Children, "around the world, more than 350,000 women die each year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, and millions more develop some kind of disability. When a mother dies, her children are much more likely to be poor, to drop out of school, and to die before age five." The ripple effect is dramatic.

To take a deeper look into the lives of the world's mothers, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with independent non-profit broadcaster, Link TV, and Save the Children to co-produce a new half-hour documentary that takes viewers on a global tour of the best and worst places in the world to be a mother. (You can view the video at the end of this story, online, or on Link TV on Friday, May 6 or Tuesday, May 10.)

Based on Save the Children's just-released "2011 State of the World's Mothers Report," the special -- ViewChange: The Mothers Index -- takes viewers on an international journey to learn what it takes for global mothers and their children to thrive, introducing us to young moms and spotlighting programs that are changing the odds. In a unique collaboration in "global development storytelling," the show -- part of Link TV's ViewChange.org project that combines global development progress stories and direct action -- also includes stories from the ONE campaign's Living Proof series.

So, what’s the data behind the stories?  For its 2011 report, Save the Children conducted a comprehensive study of 164 countries, and compiled a "Mothers' Index."  At the top of the index, women have access to excellent health services, skilled health workers, and opportunities for education and advancement.  But the gap between the top and bottom-ranked countries is dramatic.  At the bottom of the list, one in three children suffers from malnutrition, and one in 30 women will die from pregnancy-related causes.  (See the full report at www.savethechildren.org.)

When you watch, you'll be struck -- as I was -- to learn that, in Sierra Leone, one in eight women dies during pregnancy, and one in five children dies before his or her first birthday. And you'll hear from a 19-year-old mother in Nepal, nine months pregnant, as she matter-of-factly states, "My last baby was breech-born, and this time, I just might die."

But the terrible odds are not the whole story. The real story is the incredible strength and spirit of these mothers around the world -- and the importance of institutional solutions and government programs that are changing the statistics in preventable scenarios.

For example, in Sierra Leone's capital city of Freetown, we learn about the commitment from Sierra Leone's government, which has just implemented a new program to provide free health care for pregnant women and children under five.

In Malawi, grandparents and village elders are now being trained as community health workers -- a tremendous program that's contributing to Malawi's breathtaking success in under-five child mortality over the past 20 years. Since 1990, Malawi has cut its under-five mortality rate in half thanks to its government's commitment to programs like this -- a feat that seems even more remarkable considering that 40 percent of the Malawi population lives in poverty.