"One factor that dragged the US ranking down was its maternal mortality rate, which at one in 4,800 is one of the highest in the developed world, said the report.

"A woman in the United States is more than five times as likely as a woman in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece or Italy to die from pregnancy-related causes in her lifetime and her risk of maternal death is nearly 10-fold that of a woman in Ireland," the report said.

It also scored poorly on under-five mortality, its rate of eight per 1,000 births putting it on a par with Slovakia and Montenegro.

"At this rate, a child in the US is more than twice as likely as a child in Finland, Iceland, Sweden or Singapore to die before his or her fifth birthday," the report noted.

Only 61 percent of children were enrolled in preschool, which on this indicator made it the seventh-lowest country in the developed world, it said."

Re: Maternal Mortality
Without knowing anything about the subject, does it say if it has anything to do with the fact that American's are having children much later in life? Does it mention the average age of the women dieing in child birth or if that's a factor?

In regards to the children, I think it's common knowledge we have a pitiful health care system and children are not getting the care they need because their parents can't afford it. Those numbers don't surprise me one bit.

Sorry, thought I posted the source

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100504/hl_...0504085825