Where's the Best Place to be a Mom?

May 7, 2010— -- People often like to think their moms are the best, but is their country the best place to be for moms?

On a list of best and worst places to be a mom, the United States ranked 28th -- between Croatia and Luxembourg, according to the "State of the World's Mothers" report by the Save the Children foundation.

A range of measures -- from mother's education, to infant mortality to representation in national legislatures -- was included in the study, which Save the Children has produced for the past 11 years.

This year, Norway and Australia topped the list, while Afghanistan came in last out of 160 countries included in the study.

"The United States just isn't doing as well by its own mothers as our European colleagues are," said Mary Beth Powers, newborn and child survival campaign chief for Save the Children.

Yet some U.S. doctors say international measures of health or death records vary too much for the rankings to be meaningful.

"The ranking... is interesting but I'm not sure what practical value it has and how it can be properly assessed," said Dr. Michael Katz, the senior vice president for Research and Global Programs at the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.

"Comparing Norway with Bangladesh is not a reasonable approach," he said.

Powers said Save the Children did tailor the rankings and measurements to developing and developed nations.

The survey found the U.S. did worse than European countries in infant mortality, maternity leave and representation in Congress. Women make up 17 percent of Congress in the U.S. but in Norway, 39 percent of the national legislature is made up of women, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

But it was maternal mortality -- or the risk that a woman will die in childbirth or from pregnancy-related causes -- that really sank the U.S. rankings.