Editing Mother (section)

==Health==
{{main|Maternal mortality}}
[[File:Maternal mortality rate worldwide.jpg|thumb|upright|Maternal mortality map, given as the annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births in 2012]]
[[File:Infant mortality map of the world.svg|thumb|upright|Infant mortality rates under age 1, per 1,000 live births in 2013]]<!--maps should be grouped with 'mim' template-->

A ''maternal death'' is defined by [[World Health Organization|WHO]] as "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/indmaternalmortality/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507115424/http://www.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/indmaternalmortality/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 7, 2013|title=WHO - Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births)|work=who.int}}</ref>

About 56% of maternal deaths occur in [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] and another 29% in [[South Asia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://data.worldbank.org/news/over-99-percent-of-maternal-deaths-occur-in-developing-countries|title=Over 99 percent of maternal deaths occur in developing countries|work=worldbank.org|access-date=2013-09-21|archive-date=2013-10-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002211837/http://data.worldbank.org/news/over-99-percent-of-maternal-deaths-occur-in-developing-countries|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2006, the organization [[Save the Children]] has [[Save the Children State of the World's Mothers report|ranked]] the countries of the world, and found that [[Scandinavia]]n countries are the safest places to give birth, whereas countries in sub-Saharan Africa are the least safe to give birth.<ref>[http://www.savethechildren.net/alliance/what_we_do/newsdesk/2006-05-08b.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012211639/http://www.savethechildren.net/alliance/what_we_do/newsdesk/2006-05-08b.html|date=October 12, 2007}}</ref> This study argues a mother in the bottom ten ranked countries is over 750 times more likely to [[maternal mortality|die in pregnancy or childbirth]], compared to a mother in the top ten ranked countries, and a mother in the bottom ten ranked countries is 28 times more likely to [[infant mortality|see her child die]] before reaching their first birthday.

The most recent data suggests that [[Italy]], [[Sweden]] and [[Luxembourg]] are the safest countries in terms of maternal death and [[Afghanistan]], [[Central African Republic]] and [[Malawi]] are the most dangerous.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newser.com/story/86023/safest-place-to-give-birth-italy.html|title=Safest Place to Give Birth? Italy|author=Kevin Spak|work=Newser|date=14 April 2010|access-date=1 March 2012|archive-date=20 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220045654/http://www.newser.com/story/86023/safest-place-to-give-birth-italy.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/apr/12/maternal-mortality-rates-millennium-development-goals | work=The Guardian | first=Simon | last=Rogers | title=Maternal mortality: how many women die in childbirth in your country? | date=2010-04-13 | access-date=2016-12-15 | archive-date=2017-12-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051923/https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/apr/12/maternal-mortality-rates-millennium-development-goals | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Childbirth]] can be a dangerous process in the absence of effective measures to reduce death. When none of these measure are taken, the maternal death rate has been estimated as being within the order of magnitude of 1,500 deaths per 100,000 births.<ref name="vanlerberghe">Van Lerberghe W, De Brouwere V. ''Of blind alleys and things that have worked: history's lessons on reducing maternal mortality.'' In: De Brouwere V, Van Lerberghe W, eds. ''Safe motherhood strategies: a review of the evidence''. Antwerp, ITG Press, 2001 (Studies in Health Services Organisation and Policy, 17:7–33).  "Where nothing effective is done to avert maternal death, "natural" mortality is probably of the order of magnitude of 1,500/100,000."</ref> Modern medicine has greatly alleviated the risk of childbirth. In modern Western countries the current maternal mortality rate is around 10 deaths per 100,000 births.<ref>''ibid'', p10</ref>