Mothers in distress

last updated 8 January 2015

Bamako, Mali

Africa is the worst continent to be a mother in, according to a Save the Children analysis released this week. For its annual State of the World’s Mothers report, the group evaluated 110 countries based on maternal deaths during childbirth, availability of contraception, adult literacy, and other factors. Of the 10 lowest-scoring countries, seven were in Africa. Mali was the worst of all, with one in 10 women dying in childbirth. “Conditions for children and mothers in the bottom-ranked countries are devastating,” said Charles MacCormack, president of Save the Children. In Burkina Faso, more than 90 percent of women are illiterate. In Ethiopia, 75 percent of mothers lack access to clean water.