[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:31:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","global",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"health",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","c4f3df62e52ed498eb7d9a2f0b3dc8ed","Entry","2021-11-11T07:06:43.986Z","2026-01-22T09:12:02.636Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",106,26,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"globalId":36,"answers":37,"answersAsImages":57,"wrongPercentage":97,"name":98,"questionText":99,"statistics":100,"veryWrongStatistics":102,"correctSentence":104,"youWereWrong":105,"youWereRight":106,"dataSourceShortText":107,"dataSourceLinkLongText":108,"extendedAnswerText":109,"headingVeryWrong":110,"youWereVeryWrong":111,"headingWrong":112},"31",[38,60,78],{"metadata":39,"sys":42,"fields":55},{"tags":40,"concepts":41},[],[],{"space":43,"id":45,"type":21,"createdAt":46,"updatedAt":47,"environment":48,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":52,"locale":34},{"sys":44},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"4e4e3721a80a88102ad9d12b59a8459f","2021-11-11T06:51:57.606Z","2026-01-22T09:12:02.683Z",{"sys":49},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},29,19,{"sys":53},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},"answer",{"globalId":56,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":59},"31-a1",false,true,"Around 25%",{"metadata":61,"sys":64,"fields":75},{"tags":62,"concepts":63},[],[],{"space":65,"id":67,"type":21,"createdAt":68,"updatedAt":69,"environment":70,"publishedVersion":29,"revision":72,"contentType":73,"locale":34},{"sys":66},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"f5ddbef3d799c410ede88f93864f01ff","2021-11-11T06:51:58.994Z","2026-01-22T09:12:02.882Z",{"sys":71},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},18,{"sys":74},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":76,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":77},"31-a2","Around 50%",{"metadata":79,"sys":82,"fields":94},{"tags":80,"concepts":81},[],[],{"space":83,"id":85,"type":21,"createdAt":86,"updatedAt":87,"environment":88,"publishedVersion":90,"revision":91,"contentType":92,"locale":34},{"sys":84},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"9f9a9568523eff41fdb78d96d70dea4e","2021-11-11T06:52:00.487Z","2026-01-22T09:12:02.985Z",{"sys":89},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},30,20,{"sys":93},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":95,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":96},"31-a3","Around 85%",87,"Worldwide, how many babies are born with a trained","Worldwide, how many babies are born with a trained health worker present, and get at least one vaccination?",[101],"uk 0.87",[103],"uk 0.558","Globally, 87% of births are attended by a trained health worker.","Most newborns are welcomed into this world by the hands of a health professional.","When educated health staff help deliver babies, it massively reduces the risks for both mothers and babies. ","Source: WHO","According to the World Health Organization, the number in 2024 was 87%. That is based on the most recent data from all countries. But data from some countries is more reliable than from others. Different countries also use very different criteria for what is a “trained” health worker. To account for this we use the correct option “more than 80%”, to ensure we do not overestimate progress.\n\nSince 2004, we have known how many skilled health workers attend births but not their quality. After 2004, there was an increase in births attended by skilled workers, and even though there was a lot of progress, the decline in maternal mortality didn’t reach the 75% by 2015 that was stated in the Millennium Development Goals (The decrease in maternal mortality ratio from 2000 to 2017 was 38% [WHO](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.who.int\u002Fnews-room\u002Ffact-sheets\u002Fdetail\u002Fmaternal-mortality)). This was addressed in 2018, with a [newer definition](https:\u002F\u002Fapps.who.int\u002Firis\u002Fbitstream\u002Fhandle\u002F10665\u002F272818\u002FWHO-RHR-18.14-eng.pdf?ua=1) of who is a skilled health worker, which has stricter standards. Our data doesn’t yet take this new definition into account as most of the data was collected before 2018. Due to the issue around the definition of “skilled” we tweaked the question to say “trained” health worker instead, as the definition the data uses still meets that criteria.\nThe enormous differences within countries can be seen in the data from the Center for Equity, Pelotas[2]\n\n[1]  [World Health Organization 2025 data.who.int, Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel](https:\u002F\u002Fdata.who.int\u002Findicators\u002Fi\u002FF835E3B\u002F1772666)  \n[2]  [Maternal health inequalities within countries, Decile data for attended births and income, from International Center for Equity in Health Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil](https:\u002F\u002Fequidade.org\u002Fabsolute_income)","Most people believe that a majority of the world’s population are stuck in poverty with no access to basic health care. That was true 50 years ago!\n\nBasic health care is inexpensive today and most mothers get help during childbirth, which means that fewer mothers and babies die. Even though the average amount of attended births has gone up everywhere, there are enormous inequalities within countries, as we show in [this video](https:\u002F\u002Ftwitter.com\u002FGapminder\u002Fstatus\u002F1319177201087021056).\n\n### Why is it a problem to be wrong about this?\nIf people overestimate the number of mothers who have to give birth alone, it might seem too expensive to help them all have trained staff when they give birth. \n\n### Why are so many wrong about this?\nThey probably believe that a majority of people are stuck in a poverty so deep that they can’t afford assistance when giving birth. But the majority of people in the world are not that poor. Even if many still lack a lot of resources, the majority have access to basic modern health care.\n\n### How can the number of assisted deliveries be so high?\nThis is mostly due to larger numbers of births taking place at a health facility. To reduce maternal deaths, [the need to assist mothers during delivery](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.who.int\u002Fpmnch\u002Ftopics\u002Fmaternal\u002Fknowledge_summaries_14_midwives\u002Fen\u002F) has been a high priority in many countries for many decades. Today, there are more educated doctors, nurses and midwives in the world than ever before.\n\nSee trends for [births attended by skilled health staff](https:\u002F\u002Fbit.ly\u002F3mJtzVA) between 1990-2020 for most countries. \n\n### Why is it important to have trained health staff present when giving birth?\nFor many women, giving birth is the most dangerous moment of their life. The first minutes of life are also the most dangerous time for babies. Many things can go wrong. Having a trained health worker by an expectant mother’s side will increase the chance of survival for both mother and baby when things do go wrong. Trained health workers can promote hygiene, give drugs, stop bleedings and identify warning signs of when to go for a caesarean section (if available). \n\nSee how [infant mortality rates](https:\u002F\u002Fbit.ly\u002F3gbmwCX) and [maternal mortality](https:\u002F\u002Fbit.ly\u002F3lJufZX) rates have decreased over time in most countries. \n\n### Are assisted births common everywhere?\nIn almost all countries in the world, more than 50% of deliveries are assisted by a trained health worker. In a few low- and lower-middle-income countries (like Ethiopia, Nigeria, Haiti and Yemen) fewer than 50% women are assisted while giving birth. But being poor doesn’t always mean that few mothers get help. In the low-income countries Malawi and Rwanda, for instance, 90% of births are assisted by a trained health worker. National averages can hide big differences within countries. It is usually easier to have access to delivery care in cities, compared to the countryside. It’s always the poorest mothers who give birth alone. \n\nSee the recent trends for [the percent of births attended by skilled health staff](https:\u002F\u002Fbit.ly\u002F3mJtzVA) between 1990-2020 for most countries.\n\n### Resources\nGapminder Tools: [Births attended by skilled health staff](https:\u002F\u002Fbit.ly\u002F3mJtzVA) 1990-2020 for most countries. \n\nGapminder Tools: [Infant mortality rate](https:\u002F\u002Fbit.ly\u002F3gbmwCX) 1800-today for most countries\n\nGapminder Tools: [Maternal mortality](https:\u002F\u002Fbit.ly\u002F3lJufZX) 1980-today for most countries\n\nUNICEF: [Delivery care](https:\u002F\u002Fdata.unicef.org\u002Ftopic\u002Fmaternal-health\u002Fdelivery-care)\n","You are upside down","More than 80% of newborns are welcomed into this world by the hands of a professional, and you thought it was less than 30%.","Welcomed by professional hands"]