The Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa is the world's toughest place to raise children

Finland was named the best place to be a mother, with Sweden and Norway following in second and third places. In India, over 300,000 babies die within 24 hours of being born, accounting for 29% of all newborn deaths worldwide. The 10 bottom-ranked countries were all from sub-Saharan Africa, with one woman in 30 dying from pregnancy-related causes on average and one child in seven dying before his or her fifth birthday. In DR Congo, war and poverty have left mothers malnourished and unsupported at the most vulnerable time of their lives. The next worst countries listed were Somalia, Sierra Leone, Mali, Niger, Central African Republic, The Gambia, Nigeria, Chad and Ivory Coast. Lack of nutrition is key to high mother and infant mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa, with 10%-20% of mothers underweight. In contrast, the results show that Finland is the best place to be a mother, with the risk of death through pregnancy one in 12,200 and Finnish children getting almost 17 years of formal education. Sweden, Norway, Iceland and The Netherlands were also in the top 10, with the United States trailing at 30. The United States has the highest death rate in newborns in the industrialized world, with 11,300 babies dying on the day they are born each year. This is due in part to the United States' large population, as well as the high number of babies born too early. The United States has one of the highest preterm birth rates in the world at a rate of one in eight. Mothers and babies die in greater numbers in South Asia than in any other region with an estimated 423,000 babies dying on the day that they are born each year. India also has more maternal deaths than in any other country with 56,000 per year.