Report: Basic Items Could Save Babies’ Lives

A new study by the nonprofit group Save the Children found that more than four million babies die each year in their first month of life, reports The New York Times. The majority could be saved if those caring for them had access to inexpensive items, such as knit caps and sterile blades to cut umbilical cords, according to the report, “State of the World’s Mothers 2006.”

“The first day of life is the most dangerous day a human being has,” said Charles MacCormack, president of Save the Children. Some countries, such as Eritrea, Indonesia, Nicaragua, and the Philippines, have been able to lower their newborn death rates. But Angola, Ivory Coast, Mali, Pakistan, and Sierra Leone are doing worse than countries with similar levels of wealth, the Times reports.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given $110-million to Save the Children for its efforts to reduce newborn and maternal deaths.