While progress has been made to curb death rates among women in other countries, the US has seen an increase since the year 2000.

For the BBC's America First? series, the BBC's Aleem Maqbool is exploring health and social issues where the US, the richest country in the world, does not perform well in international rankings.

Video by Franz Strasser; produced by Ashley Semler and filmed by Pete Murtaugh.