The State of the World's Mothers report 2015, collated by Save the Children shows that Portugal is among the best countries in the world to have children.
Among the 179 countries analysed, Portugal ranked 16th, ahead of France, Canada, the UK and USA, however Portugal has slipped two places since the 2104 report.
The British-based charity explains that the quality of childrens’ lives depends on the general health, safety and well-being of mothers and used five indicators that reflect the conditions that the female population experiences in each country.
Life-threatening natal problems affect one in 8,800 women in Portugal, still way behind neighbouring Spain, which remains in 7th place where one in 15,100 women are at risk of dying during pregnancy or labour.
Infant mortality before the age of five in Portugal is running at 3.8 per 1,000 babies but still not enough babies are being born in Portugal to replace the population which is becoming badly skewed towards the elderly.
Key factors for baby’s health include women’s access to education and to economic and social opportunities.
The Save the Children report aims to raise awareness of the gap between rich and poor with the well off Scandinavian countries dominating the first five positions.
At the bottom end is Somalia, with one woman in 18 is at risk of dying during childbirth, shocking when compared to the risk in Finland for example where just one in 15,000 is registered as at high risk.
Top 10 best countries to have children:
1. Norway
2. Finland
3. Iceland
4. Denmark
5. Sweden
6. Netherlands
7. Spain
8. Germany
9. Australia
10. Belgium
11. Austria
12. Italy
13. Switzerland
14. Singalopore
15. Slovenia
16. Portugal
Top 10 worst countries to have children:
=169. Haiti
=169. Sierra Leone
171. Guinea-Bissau
172. Chad
173. Côte d'Ivoire
174. Gambia
175. Nigeria
176. Mali
177. Central African Republic
178. Democratic Republic of Congo
179. Somalia
