Salvador, Brazil

Pregnancy cravings are taken very seriously in Brazil. If you don’t satisfy your cravings, Brazilians joke that your child will resemble that food. Brazil has one of the highest C-section rates in the world, with a 93% cesarean rate in private hospitals and between 30% and 50% in public hospitals. Brazil ranks 55 on the Mother’s Index–10 countries away from being listed in the tier 1 countries (out of three tiers)–with strong scores in all indicators except women’s political participation in national government (10%) and risk of death in childbirth (1 out of 860).