Africa: More skilled attendants needed to reduce maternal mortality

Sub-Saharan African countries have claimed nine of the ten bottom places in a ranking of maternal health around the world. 'The Mothers' Index', a new survey of motherhood by Save the Children, analyses health, education and economic conditions for women and children in 164 countries. Ironically, it is in giving birth - and multiple births for that matter - that a woman nears an approximate of the ideal of a wife,' says Kolorinda James, a traditional birth attendant (TBA) in Juba, South Sudan. 'Children are considered to be a sign of wealth. It is a case of the content being valued much more than the container - as thousands of women in this region continue to die from pregnancy related complications.'