Eideard

This is NOT Norway

Norway is the best country in the world in which to be a new mother, followed by Australia, according to Save the Children’s annual State of the World’s Mothers report, issued this month.

Afghanistan was at the bottom of the 160 countries listed.

The United States did not fare well; it was 28th, below Greece, Portugal and virtually all of Western Europe. It ranked just above Poland and most of the former Soviet bloc.

The chief reason for the low American ranking, the authors said, was that despite advanced medical technology, more young mothers die, either in childbirth or in the years after, than in most rich countries. The United States also lost points because American working mothers get less maternity leave and lower benefits…

After Norway and Australia, the top-rated countries were Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, Finland and the Netherlands.

The truly low-rated countries achieve their status as you would expect – from treating women as something between a new pair of sandals and a baby-vending machine.

More to the point is a wealthy nation like the United States that reinstates a sex-based mirror of class society whenever words like healthcare enter the equation. Don’t forget – American conservative politicians still think the best politics comes from the 19th Century or earlier.

A father managed to deliver his baby son after watching DIY baby delivery video clips on YouTube.

Feeling nervous about the imminent birth of his child Marc Stephens had a look at childbirth videos on his home computer.

Four hours later his wife, Jo, went into labour three weeks earlier than expected and, as paramedics rushed to help, Stephens was able to put his new-found knowledge into action and helped deliver 5lb 5oz Gabriele.

Stephens, 28, a naval engineer, told yesterday how he had already learned how to play the guitar and solve the Rubik’s Cube puzzle from YouTube videos. So it didn’t seem too much of a leap for him to check out the whys and wherefores of childbirth.

He said: “I spent about half a hour on Google and watched a couple of videos on YouTube…After he finished looking at the sites at about 10.30pm the couple went to bed, only to wake up at 2am with Jo, 28, in labour…

The baby was delivered safely and both mother and child are doing well. Jo, who has three other children, said: “I was quite relaxed. I have to say, out of all my four labours, that was the one I enjoyed the most. Marc is one of those people who can put his hand to anything.”

Har!