Norway ranks #1 in a survey of the best places to be a mother. Here, a woman and her daughter watch Norwegian National Day celebrations in 2007.
- [Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images]

A boy holds his mother burqa as they walk down a street in the old city of Kabul, Afghanistran. Afghanistan is at the bottom of the 2011 Mother's Index Rankings released by the Save the Children Foundation — that is, considered the worst place on earth to be a mother.
- [Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images]

In the top-ten nations for mothers, Netherlands ranks 9th. Fifty babies celebrate their first birthday with a large cake on Sept. 29, 2009 in Ouderkerk aan den Amstel, Netherlands as an initiative from Unicef to promote vaccination of mothers and babies in the Third World.
- [Rick Nederstigt/AFP/Getty Images]

In war-torn Congo, a refugee mother and son are seen waiting by the shelters near the village of Tongo.
- [Uriel Sinai/Getty Images]

Democratic Republic of the Congo ranks as the 6th worst place on earth to be a mother. Here, mothers sit with their under nourished children in a hospital ward in Dungu, north eastern Congo, on Feb. 20, 2009.
- [Lionel Healing/AFP/Getty Images]

New Zealand ranks 6th in the 10-best places to be a mother. Here, a 2-year-old girl plays on a jungle gym in Gladstone Parl playground in the neighborhood of Parnell.
- [Phil Walter/Getty Images]

Yemen ranks as 4th-worst place in the world for mothers. Here, a mother in Hodeidah, rural Yemen, is coached in child nutrition. House visits by community midwives are instrumental in providing maternal and neonatal care in rural areas of Yemen.
- [Brent Stirton/Getty Images]

Pregnant women pose for a photographer in Breda, Netherlands — in the top–10 of best places to be a mother — on Sept. 4, 2010 as part of a campaign to encourage better circumstances for mothers worldwide.
- [Marco De Swart/AFP/Getty Images]