After a baby is born, Armenian mothers like Inga, who is eight months pregnant, will not take their baby out of the house for the first 40 days. Family members and friends come to visit. After that, the child is typically brought to church for the priest’s blessing. Only 19% of women use modern contraception and 9% participate in national government but on the flip side, Armenia exhibits strong health and education indicators, placing it at 73 in the Mother’s Index.
While Russia has generous state maternity benefits and leave (over six months at 100% pay), the country is suffering from an underpopulation crisis. This has prompted Russian President Medvedev to increase regulations over abortion. Russia has one of the world’s highest abortion rates, with 1.714 million births in 2008 and 1.234 million abortions. Russia comes in at 38 on the Mother’s Index.
