Mother's Day 2012 : Worst and (Best) Places to be Mother [SLIDESHOW]

Prior to International Mother's Day, the humanitarian group, Save the Children, has released its 13th annual State of the World's Mothers report, listing the best and worst places in the world to be a mother.

Analysing on the basis of health, education, economy and conditions for women and children in 165 countries, Norway is on top to be the best place to be a mother; Niger is the worst, displacing Afghanistan, which for the last two years was rated as the worst place to be a mother.

Norway outshines in terms of best in contraceptive use, female education and political representation. Besides, it has one of the most generous maternity leave policies in the developed world.

Rounding out the top five are Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark. The UK is tenth on the list.

Niger, in Western Africa, comes last with a worsening hunger situation, threatening the lives of a million children in the country. Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Yemen and Afghanistan are at the bottom five.

"The mothers report is an annual report we do that really looks at all sorts of different factors for moms from around the world. And this year we looked at 165 countries and we look at where is it the best and the worst place to be a mom," Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children, said in the report.

"We look at the status of women. We look at what it's like to give birth in those countries. We look at the survival rates of kids in those countries. We think that's a big indicator of whether it's a good place to be a mom or not a good place to be a mom. And so those are all the different types of things that we look at," Miles added.

The report shows nutrition as a key factor in determining mothers' and their children's well-being. It also reveals that malnutrition is the underlying cause of more than 2.6 million child deaths each year and an additional 171 million children suffer stunted growth.

Click on start to look at the worst places to be a mother: