Less than a decade ago, the United States ranked 6th on Save the Children's list of best places to be a mother. This year, it dropped to 31st place out of 178 countries. “In the U.S., the lifetime risk of maternal death has risen more than 50 percent since we launched our first report in 2000 -- from 1 in 3,700 to 1 in 2,400,” said Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children. “Today, an American woman faces the same lifetime risk of maternal death as a woman in Iran or Romania.”

In Texas alone, the maternal mortality rate quadrupled over the last 15 years to nearly 25 out of 100,000 births, according to data from the state's Department of Health Services. The United States is one of the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world.

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