U.S. Top of List for First-Day Deaths in Rich Nations

More babies die on their first day of life in the United States than in any other industrialized country.

Throughout the world, the first day of life is the most hazardous time for a baby; just over one million children die each year within 24 hours of being born.

Save the Children's annual "State of the World's Mothers" report ranks 176 countries on levels of well-being among children and mothers. This year's edition puts a special emphasis on newborn health, featuring its first-ever Birth Day Risk Index. The index ranks countries from the safest to the most dangerous for a baby to be born in.

In the United States, babies are 50 percent more likely to die on the same day they were born than in all of the other industrialized countries combined, according to the report. Each year,

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