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New parents are understandably wrapped up in the day-to-day business of caring for baby, but take a moment to ingest a little something from this "Save the Children" report entitled "State of the World's Mothers."
Among other things, the report contains this intriguing statistic: Of more than 10 million children under the age of 5 who die each year, about 1 in 5—an estimated 2 million babies—die within the first 24 hours of life.
The report writers point out that these early deaths are easily prevented with simple, inexpensive health measures. The causes of newborn death are often preventable or treatable infections, complications at birth, and low-birth weight.
The report, which you can download here, makes these concrete recommendations:
* Invest more to help girls and young women in poor countries have greater access to education, nutrition and modern contraceptives.
* Provide low-cost, low-tech solutions to mothers and babies that save lives during pregnancy, at birth and immediately after birth. These measures include tetanus immunizations, skilled attendant at childbirth, prompt treatment of newborn infections and education about proper hygiene, warmth and breastfeeding for infants.
* Expand the availability of good quality health care to mothers after childbirth.
You can check up on how mothers do overall in developing and developed countries in this Save the Children index.
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