A recent NY Times article cited a Save The Children's report, which names Norway as the best place to be a mother and Afghanistan as the worst out of 160 countries, including 43 developed nations and 117 developing ones. Both the NY Times and Save The Children highlight the importance of trained healthcare professionals present during childbirth, and notes that in very poor countries, survival of both mother and child is contingent on whether or not there is a trained female healthcare worker present during the birth. In many of these countries, husbands prevent their wives from seeing male doctors, and without the presence of any trained healthcare worker, the probability of mortality for both mother and child increases significantly. Without the presence of a male doctor, trained female midwives, nurses and doctors can play a crucial role in decreasing maternal and infant mortality rates.

In order for women in developing countries to participate in fields such as healthcare, education is a necessary component. However, in many of these lower income countries, female education is just not a priority. Many communities do not see the value in education, especially if their communities are labor intensive and require the manual labor of all members of the family. But education, as seen from the above article, can be the key in significantly decreasing maternal mortality, which remains one of the most staggering collection of statistics in international health today.

Many people and organizations worldwide are beginning to recognize the importance of women as contributors to society:

-One NY Times blogger, Nicholas D. Kristof, has written several articles about the situation of women all over the world.
-Studies have been done that show how female education improves maternal health.
-Organizations such as Build A Nest worldwide, Rencontre et Action in Niger and others focus on involving women in economic activity separate from their husbands so that they too have a say in economic life for their families.

We can also support these women by recognizing the importance of female education in our own societies by looking at what is working and what we can improve. Supporting organizations such as the ones above that focus specifically on women is a great way to become involved in the lives of women all over the world. Women can and should be an important part of society and this realization is crucial if countries want to fully develop in all aspects of society. Once, when asked if Saudi Arabia would reach one of the top 10 countries in the world in technology by 2010, Bill Gates replied to an audience that was 4/5 men and 1/5 women: "Well, if you’re not fully utilizing half the talent in the country, you’re not going to get too close to the Top 10".