How safe is it to have a baby today?
For the mother it is very safe.
There is less than one death for every 5,000 confinements. But for the baby the position is not good enough.

In the short perinatal period - the time between the seventh month of pregnancy and the first week of life - a little over two per cent of all babies are lost. This amounts to 20,000 babies a year, which is about three times the number of people of all ages killed on the roads.

The problem is as much social as obstetric - inequality starts before birth. A survey has revealed that the unborn baby whose father is an unskilled worker has twice the risk of dying or being handicapped as the unborn baby of a Professional man.