Two million babies each year die on the day they are born in developing countries due to a lack of simple measures such as providing tetanus immunisation and skilled midwives, the Save the Children charity said.

In a report on “The State of the World’s Mothers 2006”, the international charity said that of more than 10 million children under the age of five who die each year in the developing world, around one in five die within the first 24 hours of life. “The first hours, days and weeks of a baby’s life are critical, yet only a tiny minority of babies in poor countries receive proper heath care during this highly vulnerable period”, Save the Children chief executive Jasmine Whitbread said in a statement. “The most simple health measures ... can mean the difference between life and death.”

The report said most newborn deaths were the result of preventable or treatable causes such as infections, birth complications or low birth weight.

“Simple, affordable techniques, such as immunising women against tetanus and providing a skilled attendant at birth, could reduce these deaths by 70 percent”, it said. It said newborn deaths were so common in many parts of the developing world that parents put off naming their babies until they are between one week and three months old. Save the Children also published a 2006 update of its “Mothers’ Index” of the best and worst countries in the world to be a mother and child.

For the seventh year in a row, Scandinavian countries dominated the top tier of the rankings with Sweden taking first place. The United States and Britain were in joint tenth place, while Niger was ranked as the worst country. Save the Children described the large number of newborn deaths as “one of the world’s most neglected health problems” and urged governments around the world to increase political and financial aid to help prevent further deaths.