The report figures out that up to 2 million newborns die every year in the first 24 hours of their life which could easily be prevented with cheap interventions, such as knit caps to keep newborns warm or clean blades to cut umbilical cords.
The analysis released Monday by the U.S.-based group, Save the Children, suggested that half a million women die annually from complications during pregnancy or birth often because they have no care before, during or after their babies are born.
Co-author Anne Tinker, director of the organization's Saving Newborn Lives Initiative believes that knowledge can prevent 70 percent of child and mother deaths.
The 50-page report released ahead of Mother's Day compiles data from the world's nations as well as the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Out of 78 low- and middle-income countries examined, Liberia had the highest newborn mortality rate closely followed by Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Pakistan and Ivory Coast - countries known for conflict and widespread violence against women.
