US ranks 11th on global index of motherhood

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US ranks 11th on global index of motherhood

By Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON, May 09 (Reuters) - The United States ranked 11th on a global

Mothers' Index that aims to gauge how mothers are treated, just ahead of

Cuba and Cyprus and behind most of Western Europe, Canada and Australia.

Sweden topped the list of 94 countries rated in a report by the Save the

Children relief organization released on Tuesday, in the week leading up to

Mothers Day on Sunday.

What dragged the United States down was its low percentage of women in the

US House of Representatives, one of 10 factors measured in the index.

" One of the indicators that we could use to show how influential women are

was our ability to elect women to legislative positions, " the index's

research director, Beryl Levinger, said in a telephone interview. " If there

are indeed more women in the House, we're likely to see more

family-friendly, mother-friendly and child-friendly laws. "

Most of the top 10 countries were in Western Europe, and all were in the

developed world. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and

Switzerland led the list, followed by Canada, Austria, Australia and the

United Kingdom.

All but one of the bottom 10 were in Africa. Lowest ranked was Guinea

Bissau, followed by Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali, Yemen, Gambia, Burundi,

Mauritania, the Central African Republic and Benin.

Levinger said the low US ranking shows that " wealth alone doesn't get the

job done; there's the question of political will and the question of

priorities.... Countries that are not particularly wealthy can do actually

quite well by their mothers and children.

" What it says about the United States is that this hasn't been our highest

priority, " Levinger said.

The index measured six indicators for maternal status and four for children.

The six indicators were lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy or childbirth,

access to modern contraception, access to trained personnel during

childbirth, percentage of pregnant women with anemia, the adult female

literacy rate and participation of women in national government.

The four indicators for children were infant mortality rate, access to

primary school, access to safe water and the percentage of children under

age 5 who suffer from moderate to severe wasting from malnutrition.

In a corresponding Girls Investment Index, measuring 140 countries'

investment in the fate of girls, the United States ranked 22nd--tied with

Greece and Hungary and far below Canada, Australia and most of Western

Europe.

The US teenage pregnancy rate, the highest in the developed world, pushed

the United States lower on the girls' list, Levinger said.

The United States, while scoring well on female literacy and access to

modern contraception, lagged behind No. 1 Sweden when it came to lifetime

risk of maternal mortality and women's participation in national government.

" Although maternal healthcare services in the United States may be

considered among the best available in the world, discrepancy in access to

these services between white and minority women is a major cause of this

poor showing, " Save the Children said in a statement.

The group cited statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention showing the maternal mortality rate for black women is as much as

three times higher than that for white women.