Pregnancy Six Times Riskier In UK Than Belarus

British women are at least twice as likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth as those in Poland or Belarus, a charity has found.

Save the Children has placed the UK the 24th best country globally to be a mother in 2015.

It is the third year in a row the country has failed to make the top 10 in the annual State Of The World's Mothers report.

This year's report found that women in the UK face a one-in-6,900 chance of dying while pregnant or giving birth during their lives.

This is far greater than in Poland (one-in-19,800), in Austria (one-in-19,200) or in Belarus (one-in-45,200).

In the US, the figure is one-in-1,800 - the worst out of any developed country in the world.

The charity also calculated that a child born in the UK is more than twice as likely to die before it reaches the age of five as one in Iceland or Luxembourg.

The number of under-fives who die for every 1,000 births in Britain and Northern Ireland is 4.6, whereas in the other two countries the figure is 2.1 and two respectively.

The UK's 24th spot in 2015 is a slight improvement on 2014, when it was 26th in the rankings.

Norway, Finland and Iceland are in first, second and third place respectively.

The UK, which has not made the top 10 since 2012, is also behind countries like Spain, Slovenia, Israel and Greece.

The United States is in 33rd place overall.

All but two of the 11 bottom-ranked countries are in West and Central Africa with Somalia in the bottom spot for the second year running.

Save the Children used Data from sources such as UN agencies to create the index.

Countries were then ranked on five key factors - risk of maternal death, under-five mortality rate, educational status, economic achievement and political status.

The higher risk to British mothers during pregnancy is thought to be down to greater levels of obesity, IVF, social deprivation and multiple pregnancies.

Older maternal ages and poorer access to healthcare, especially among some ethnic minority communities and asylum seekers, are also thought to be factors

The worst capital cities for child survival in the world's wealthiest countries are Washington DC, Vienna in Austria and Bern in Switzerland.

But the report found a number of cities have made significant gains in helping their young to survive over the last year including Kampala (Uganda), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia); Cairo (Egypt); Guatemala City (Guatemala); Manila (Philippines); and Phnom Penh (Cambodia).

Save the Children International's chief executive, Jasmine Whitbread, said: "We urgently need to close the gap in life chances for mothers and children so that - no matter where they live - everyone has a fair chance to survive and fulfil their potential."